HARRISONBURG, VA - The number of city residential building permits rose 241.6 percent in 2007, as student housing projects more than compensated for a decline in single-family home starts, city data indicate. Meanwhile, county figures show that residential housing starts in Rockingham County have dropped 28.9 percent since 2005.
The city's Department of Planning and Community Development issued 748 residential building permits with an estimated value of $64.5 million last year. More than half of that total was multifamily or student housing projects, such as the 222-unit Copper Beech Townhomes off Stonewall Drive and the 228-unit Latitude 38 on Old Furnace Road. Rockingham County's Department of Community Development approved 558 residential building permits in 2007, down from 675 the previous year. Last year's county permits had an estimated value of $103.6 million, down from $138.7 million in 2006.
Of the 748 permits issued in Harrisonburg, 403 were for multifamily dwellings, records show. "Most of the apartments are student housing, but there are some that are intended for families," said Wayne Lilly, building official with the city. The value of that construction was estimated at $30.3 million. The remaining 345 permits were single-family units, townhouses and duplexes with an estimated value of $33.7 million.
In 2007, the city approved 55 permits for single-family homes, 12 for duplexes and 278 for townhouses. In the county, building permits for single-family homes declined 17.3 percent last year. The estimated value of those projects was down 25.3 percent from 2006. The slowdown is tied to a downturn in the economy, said William Vaughn, the county's director of community development. "We're following national trends," Vaughn said. "People lack confidence and are concerned about job security."
The past year was a soft market and builders responded to conditions, according to Jerry Scripture. Scripture is a builder and developer of Liberty Square, The Glen at Cross Keys and Heritage Estates. He built only a few single-family homes in 2007 and all those were "pre-sold," he said. However, he sold nearly 50 townhouses and duplexes. "In a soft market, people found those to be a nice fit," Scripture said. "We're just responding to the market."
Multifamily and student housing projects have kept construction going, according to Scott Rogers, associate broker with Coldwell Banker Funkhouser Realtors. Harrisonburg and Rockingham County have a larger inventory of single-family homes than the market requires, Rogers said. And since 2005, soft buyer demand has dampened new construction. "Builders and developers respond to buyer demand," Rogers said. "And they have cut back on the number of projects they're moving forward with."
Source: DNRonline.com