NWA homebuilding permits up 8.5% through February

Residential building permit activity in Northwest Arkansas’s four largest cities is ahead of last year’s pace through the first two months of 2021. That’s good news for a market that is lacking inventory.

According to permit data from each city collected by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, there were 229 residential permits issued through February in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale. That’s up 8.5% from the same period of 2020 (211 permits).

Officials in Fayetteville issued the most permits through February with 81 ($20.51 million), up 5.2% from the previous year of 77 ($24.63 million).

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

• Rogers: 71 permits, $21.22 million (2021); 61 permits, $17.51 million (2020).
• Bentonville: 40 permits, $15.95 million (2021); 44 permits, $16.51 million (2020).
• Springdale: 37 permits, $12.5 million (2021); 29 permits, $7.26 million (2020).

In Bella Vista, the homebuilding market is off to a strong start. Through February this year, city officials issued 74 permits valued at $20.69 million. That’s up from 66 permits and $16.62 million in the same period of 2020.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development, residential building permits in the U.S. in February were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.68 million. That was down 10.8% from January, but up 17% from February 2020.