The Bureau of Economic and Business Research has just updated their construction permitting data for Utah. With eleven months worth of information available, now is a great time to preview 2011 construction activity in Southwestern Utah.
Let's cut to the chase. Homebuilding did not make a comeback in the southwest corner of Utah during 2011. For most counties, the number of permitted residential "units" is down in the 25 to 45-percent range. Ouch.
Perhaps the largest surprise is Washington County's performance. A prime participator in the housing bubble, one might expect Washington County to show one of the worst performances in the area. Not so. The number of home permits authorized in the first eleven months of 2011 measures only 1.5 percent below the comparable figures for 2010. That's mere decimal dust in the volatile world of residential construction. Moreover, Washington County actually saw an increase in home-permitting during 2010!
It does appear that the Washington County housing market is making significant adjustments towards the ever inevitable equilibrium point.Other factors support this suggestion. Home sales continue to improve, foreclosure rates are down, prices have bottomed, and realtors indicate that inventories are down. Nevertheless, in 2009 the number of Washington County home permits hit the lowest level in 20 years. In other words, while the market is adjusting, the county still has market miles to go before it reach a more "normal" level of home building.
Iron County also participated in the homebuilding boom to a lesser degree, but its market has yet to stabilize. The remaining rural counties--Beaver, Garfield, and Kane remain in the residential construction doldrums. Statewide, the number of units permitted is still down slightly from last year, but values actually showed a nice uptick.
On the other hand (yes, I remember Truman's remark about wanting a one-handed economist), Garfield, Beaver, and Washington counties have benefited from substantial increases in nonresidential permitting during the year. Beaver County's nonresidential permitting grew by a whopping 500 percent in the first 11 months of 2011. (Can you say "wind farm construction?") These commercial building projects meant Beaver and Garfield counties experienced overall expansion in permit-authorized values. A quick look at the pie charts on the map reveal that nonresidential permits certainly dominated the landscape in both Beaver and Garfield counties.
Despite at least one major public project (dams,roads, schools, public buildings--are not typically permitted), Kane County experienced a virtual cessation of construction activity during 2011. Overall, permit values dropped by 72 percent when the first 11 months of 2011 and 2010 are compared.
The graphic below is interactive, so you can use it to explore the figures for each county. The data can also be downloaded directly from the graphic. And, city-level data is available from the Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research's website.
