Decline continues for area building permit values

BusinessFort SmithNews on the Wire

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) December 17, 2012 2:03 pm 79 views 

Building permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren, combined to total $16.899 million in November, a significant improvement from October’s $12.789 million total and well above the $9.553 million logged in November 2011.

The month-to-month increase of close to 76.9% improves year-to-date comparisons through the first 11 months of the year to a decline of 27%, which is up from October’s YTD comparison of a 32.5% decline.

Combined values in the three cities through November 2012 are at $139.329 million, compared to $190.918 million during the same period of 2011.

During the first 11 months, Fort Smith claimed the largest share with $115.311 million (a one-year decline from $167.059 million of about 31%), while Van Buren was the next largest with $15.428 million (a one-year increase from $14.547 million of approximately 6%). Greenwood posted an additional $8.589 million, which was down slightly from last year’s $9.312 million (down about 7.76%).

FORT SMITH
The city of Fort Smith logged 217 permits in November totaling $15.412 million, up considerably from November 2011’s $6.224 million valuation and October’s $10.049 million. However, YTD numbers remain down for the year.

Residential building accounted for $11.93 million with $11.034 million in the form of new home construction, while new commercial building projects claimed $2.15 million of the November total on two permits.

The largest was a $1.5 million permit at 9700 Aire Circle, the site of Pruitt Tool and Supply Company, Inc. The second was a permit at 5701 Rogers Ave. valued at $650,000.

GREENWOOD
New home construction dominated Greenwood’s November numbers, as it has throughout the first 11 months of 2012, with two permits totaling $374,500 accounting for most of the $392,500 overall valuation (on four total permits). This number is a big decrease from November 2011’s $1.978 million total.

VAN BUREN

Van Buren remains up for the year, though the $1.096 million November valuation is down from November 2011’s $1.351 million total. Most of the city’s activity stemmed from close to $1.025 million in single-family residential and duplex construction.

2011 RECAP
Of the $190.918 million totaled through November 2011, Fort Smith logged the most with $167.059 million, thanks in large part to the Mitsubishi plant at Chaffee Crossing, which has since been mothballed by the company. That one permit, issued in January 2011, totaled $28.5 million.

Van Buren was at second place through November 2011 with $14.547 million in valuations, beating out Greenwood, which posted just $9.312 million through the same period.

Mitsubishi continues to drag down building permit numbers for the year, causing a year-to-date decline of around 27%. Even without that permit, the Fort Smith metro area continues to lag when compared with 2011 showing a decrease of around 14.2%, though the deficit has improved significantly from the 30.88% decline at the end of August.