Home construction has slight increase

By Elizabeth Cook

ecook@salisburypost.com

The U.S. Commerce Department says new home construction across the country grew slightly from May to June, and the same holds true in Rowan County.

But our numbers are small.

The county issued eight building permits for single-family homes in May and nine in June.

The permits did grow considerably in value, though — from $1,548,120 in May to $2,400,972 in June, or by 55 percent, according to the county’s Code Enforcement and Inspection Office.

The U.S. Commerce Department says builders across the country began work on a seasonally adjusted 629,000 homes last month, a 14.6 percent increase from May. That’s roughly half the 1.2 million homes per year that economists say must be built to sustain a healthy housing market.

Rowan has a steep hill to climb to get to normal levels. At the height of the local housing boom in 2007, builders got permits to build 706 houses in Rowan.

About the halfway point of 2011, the total number of permits issued for new homes is only 52.

That’s even fewer than in 2010, when the number issued in the first half was 105.

Neighboring Cabarrus County issued permits for 2,140 single-family homes in pre-Recession 2007 — three times the Rowan total that year. New home permits issued from Jan. 1 to July 19 this year in Cabarrus total 327, compared to 336 last year.

Sandy Howell, a permit technician in the Rowan County Code Enforcement and Inspection Office, said new home starts may be slow, but construction in other areas keeps the office busy.

“In Rowan County, commercial has really stayed steady,” Howell said. “Commercial has really kept this area alive, which is great because it brings in jobs.”

Since Jan. 1, the office has issued 20 permits for commercial projects totalling $8,575,848 in value, she said. Projects under way include the Webb Road Flea Market and a Sheetz gas station. The $8.5 million figure is promising for just half a year. In previous years, commercial permit activity in Rowan for the entire year was:

• 2010: 27 permits at $13,754,925 value

• 2009: 19 permits at $9,596,140 value

• 2008: 254 permits at $26,548,275 value (Includes the Grand on Julian apartment complex)

Fifty-seven permits have been issued in Rowan so far this year for residential additions valued at $1,760,996.

In previous years, residential addition permit activity for the entire year was:

• 2010: 86 permits at $2,132,906 value

• 2009: 98 permits at $3,230,197 value

• 2008: 83 permits at $2,169,402 value

Nationally, the 14.6 percent increase in housing starts easily surpassed private-sector expectations of a 2.7-percent increase. Permits for new housing units also beat expectations, increasing 2.5 percent in June following an 8.2-percent jump in May. Private-sector analysts had expected a 2.3-percent drop in permits from May to June.

“While today’s new construction report is encouraging, the housing market remains fragile,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said.

“If America fails to meet its obligations, it would lead to a sharp decline in household wealth and higher mortgage rates, which would profoundly damage the housing market’s recovery. Now is the time for members of both parties to make tough choices and take a balanced approach to solve this problem, so we can focus on getting more Americans back to work.”

With contributions from the Associated Press.