Residential building in NWA down 8% through October

Through the first 10 months of the year, residential building permit values in Northwest Arkansas’ four largest cities are down from the 2018 pace.

According to permit data from each city, there were 1,351 residential permits issued through October in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale, down 8% from the same period of 2018 (1,469 permits). They had a combined value of $378.56 million, down 9.2% from the same period last year ($417.21 million).

The drop can mostly be attributed to a correction in the Fayetteville market, which spiked in 2018 with the start of multiple large-scale neighborhoods.

Through 10 months this year, Fayetteville still leads the region in the total number of permits. The city issued 463 permits for a combined value of $135.18 through October. That’s down from 570 permits (-18.7%) and $144.41 million (-6.3%) in the same period last year.

Permit activity in other cities is more comparable to last year:

• Bentonville: 389, $118.49 million (2019); 396, $140.62 million (2018)
• Rogers: 262, $64.39 million (2019); 289, $74.47 million (2018)
• Springdale: 237, $60.50 million (2018); 214, $57.70 million (2018)

New residential building permits in Bella Vista totaled 225 through October, with a combined value of $61.87 million. That’s roughly the same activity compared with 231 permits and a value of $59.27 million in the first 10 months of 2018.