NWA housing starts down 5.9% in 2019
by January 31, 2020 9:58 am 1,578 views
Northwest Arkansas homebuilding was down in three of the region’s four largest cities, and slipped 5.9% overall.
According to residential building permit data provided by Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale, last year’s combined total of 1,559 permits was down from 1,658 permits in 2018. The overall combined value was down 6.5%, from $472.17 million to $441.13 million.
For the second consecutive year, Fayetteville paced the region’s four largest cities in residential building activity. City planners issued 554 permits valued at $161.59 million. That compares with 645 permits and a value of $167.03 million in 2018.
Activity from the other cities was:
- Bentonville: 428 permits, $130.17 million (2019); 442 permits, $154.87 million (2018).
- Rogers: 293 permits, $72.96 million (2019); 344 permits, $88.58 million (2018).
- Springdale: 284 permits, $76.41 million (2019); 227, $61.69 million (2018).
In Bella Vista, permit activity cooled somewhat after sharp gains in the past few years but is still trending upward. The city issued 278 permits valued at $75.01 million last year. That compares with 262 permits ($68.33 million) in 2018, 194 permits ($50.32 million) in 2017 and 98 permits ($26.42 million) in 2016.