Residential building permit values up 22% to start 2018

The value of residential building permit values in the region’s four largest cities rose dramatically in the first quarter of 2018.

According to data collected from each city, permit values were up 22% in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale in the first three months of the year. The collective value was $146.82 million, compared to $120.36 million in the year-ago period.

The number of permits is also up, but just slightly — from 465 in the first three months of 2017, to 473 in the first three months of 2018.

The building activity is heaviest in Fayetteville, where the city issued 192 permits — 104 in March alone — with a value of $43.07 million in the first quarter. That’s up 18% from 163 permits and $35.35 million in the same period a year ago.

In Bentonville, the city issued 130 permits with a combined value of $64.87 million. Although the number of permits is down slightly from 136 in the first quarter of 2017, the value is up a whopping 65%, from $39.39 million to $64.87 million.

Rogers issued 94 residential permits valued at $23.49 million, which compares to favorably to 86 permits and $24.93 million in the first quarter of 2017. In Springdale, residential building was down sharply in the first quarter, from 80 permits and $20.69 million through the first three months of 2017, to 57 permits and $15.39 million in the first three months this year.

The activity in Bella Vista continues to skyrocket. The city issued 71 permits totaling $18.23 million in the first quarter this year, doubling the output from the same period in 2017.