NWA residential building permits down nearly 3% in 2020

Residential building permits in Northwest Arkansas’ four largest cities declined in the fourth quarter of 2020, leaving the annual figures less than the previous year.

According to permit data from each city collected by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, there were 1,514 residential permits issued last year in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale. That’s down 2.8% from 2019 (1,559 permits).

It’s also a big turnaround from September 2020, when year-to-date permit activity was up 3.4% from the same period of 2019.

Residential building permit values in 2020 were down 3.3%, from $441.13 million in 2019 to $426.49 million last year.

Bentonville, Rogers and Fayetteville each issued more than 400 permits last year. The annual report was:

• Fayetteville: 443 permits, $129.8 million (2020); 554 permits, $161.5 million (2019).
• Rogers: 410 permits, $109.7 million (2020); 293 permits, $72.9 million (2019).
• Bentonville: 402 permits, $121.1 million (2020); 428 permits, $130.1 million (2019).
• Springdale: 259 permits, $65.7 million (2020); 284 permits, $76.4 million (2019).

Residential building permits were down 5.9% from 2018 to 2019 in the region’s four largest cities.

In Bella Vista, the residential construction boom shows no signs of slowing down. The city issued 416 permits valued at $108 million last year. That’s up nearly 50% from 278 permits issued in 2019, with a combined value of $75 million.

Residential permits in Bella Vista have climbed from 98 in 2016, 194 in 2017 and 262 in 2018. A variety of factors are influencing the boom including the availability of affordable lots and the opening in May 2017 of Highway 549, known as the Bella Vista Bypass, which has influenced more interest in the city from homebuilders, particularly on the west side.