Residential building permits up 79% in Bella Vista
by July 25, 2017 8:43 am 1,434 views
The city of Bella Vista is experiencing a boom in residential construction activity.
Through the first six months of the year the city has issued 86 building permits totaling $23.14 million.
That’s just 13 fewer permits than the city issued in all of 2016. For an apples-to-apples comparison, through the first six months of 2016, there were 48 residential building permits issued in Bella Vista, 30 in the first six months of 2015 and 21 in the first six months of 2014.
Sherry Laemmle, the principal broker for Crye-Leike Realtors in Bella Vista, said there were 643 lots listed for sale in the city as of July 18, and at an affordable rate.
“You can buy a buildable lot today for $1,000,” she said.
Laemmle said most builders still feel Bentonville — which issued 251 residential permits through the first six months — is a more feasible market for work in Benton County, mostly because it’s taken Bella Vista longer to rebound from the economic downtown. Builders, she said, are beginning to take greater notice of opportunities in Bella Vista.
“Bentonville took off and builders were able to get a better price per square foot for new construction,” Laemmle said. “They were hesitant to think Bella Vista could support over $100 a square foot. We’re there now, though, and builders are realizing they can make a profit. We offer a real alternative to the typical subdivision lot where you look over your fence into your neighbor’s kitchen window.”
Laemmle said the opening in May of a new section of the Bella Vista Bypass corridor, known as Highway 549, should make residential lots on the far western edge of Bella Vista more desirable because of better accessibility.
According to city data, 21 of the 86 permits issued this year have been on the west side of Bella Vista. That’s compared to 27 in all of 2016 and 20 in 2015.
“And as communities talk about a shortage of lots, we will continue to try to stress the fact that we have an abundance of beautiful wooded lots available,” Laemmle added.