According to preliminary data released by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, home building continues to lag in most of southwestern Utah. The lone exception? In Washington County new home permits for the first six months of 2010 are up 74 percent from the same period in 2009. Of course, 2009 marked the lowest year for Washington County home permits since (ouch 1989). Nevertheless, the current improvement is just one sign the the broken housing market is beginning to right itself. Washington County was earlier to the the housing boom and bust cycle than most of Utah and the current activity in the southwestern corner of the state probably a presage of improvement statewide.
The remaining counties in southwestern Utah all approved fewer permits in the first half of the 2010 than in the first half of 2009. Beaver, Garfield, and Kane counties dwelling unit permits all dropped between 35 and 50 percent. Iron County's 16-percent decline registered a more moderate contraction. Statewide permits slipped by 6 percent.
On the nonresidential side of the coin, all five counties showed decreased activity in contrast to a slight increase statewide. Nonresidential construction typically lags behind residential home building.
For more information about construction permitting activity in Utah, go to the Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research website.
