Residential building permits down 9.2% in region’s ‘Big 4’

Through the first half of 2020, residential building permits in Northwest Arkansas’ four largest cities are down nearly double digits from the 2019 pace.

According to permit data from each city collected by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, there were 772 residential permits issued through June in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale, down 9.2% from the same period of 2019 (851 permits). They had a combined value of $218.86 million, down 8.2% from the year-ago period ($238.55).

Year-to-date activity was up in Rogers and Springdale and down in Bentonville and Fayetteville. Officials in Fayetteville issued the most permits through June with 278 ($79.27 million), down 14% from the previous year of 323 ($94.91 million).

The report from other cities through the first six months was:

• Rogers: 218 permits, $54.33 million (2020); 187 permits, $43.29 million (2019).
• Springdale: 140 permits, $36.33 million (2020); 101 permits, $30.96 million (2019).
• Bentonville: 136 permits, $48.93 million (2020); 240 permits, $60.39 million (2019).

In Bella Vista, the homebuilding market is growing. Through June this year, city officials issued 187 permits with a combined value of $47.34 million. That compares with 129 permits (44.9%) and $36.7 million (28.9%) in the same six months of 2019.

At the state level, residential building permits through June this year are up 18.5%, according to the latest data from the U.S. Commerce Department, from 4,900 last year to 5,811 this year.