Stalled economy
Local housing starts to fizzle
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Thursday, July 17, 2008 10:52 AM PDT
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| A house currently under construction in the Syringa Springs subdivision in Fruitland is one project taking place this summer, however, fewer single-family homes are being built in the area and further into the western Treasure Valley. |
FRUITLAND — For the time being at least, the building boom for new houses in Fruitland is stalled.
Fruitland Building Official Dwayne Holloway said so far this year only eight or nine new houses were built in Fruitland.
Holloway said he does not expect a boom in single family residence construction for the remainder of the year. In comparison, 52 new single-family residences were built in Fruitland in 2007.
“I think if we make 20, we might be fortunate,” Holloway said. “I think it’s a downturn in the economy, just basically with everything because Nampa and Caldwell have had the same things.”
Holloway, who is also Ontario’s building official, said even Ontario’s residential housing is down, with about two new single- family residences built this year. He estimated the city had about 20 new houses last year.
“So I think just the whole economy has went that way, slowing down,” he said.
Holloway said, although he is not familiar with building cycles, he recalls as a builder in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the construction market for new residences appears to have topped out and then gone into decline, similar to today’s market.
Fruitland’s situation does not appear to differ much from other areas in the western Treasure Valley.
Building permits for single-family residences in unincorporated Payette County have also decreased, Payette County Building Official Don Dressen said. Dressen said, through June, his department issued 16 permits for site built homes and nine for manufactured houses, for a total of 25. For the first two quarters in 2007, Payette County issued a total of 41 permits — 30 site built home permits and 11 for manufactured homes. The county granted a total of 51 site built home permits and 28 manufactured home permits, for 79 total, in 2007.
Through mid-July, Dressen said he has not issued any new single family residence permits for the month, and he said none are pending.
“So I don’t know if we’ll have any for July,” Dressen said. He said the spring and summer months are the busiest for new home construction, while January and February are the slowest as far as new starts. What has been keeping Dressen occupied, he said, is remodeling and add-on construction work.
“That’s what’s keeping me going,” he said. “Not busy, but it’s keeping me going.” In Caldwell, the city has also seen a decrease in new single-family housing permits. According to the city’s Web site, through June 2008, the city issued 291 single-family residential permits. By June of last year, it issued 382 and 582 for the year. In 2006, however, the city issued 1,166 new single-family residential permits for the year. Caldwell building permit coordinator Candy Nichols said, when she first assumed her position a couple of years ago, the building department was issuing more than 100 permits a month. Now the trend seems to be leaning toward add-ons or remodeling — making houses better so people don’t have to buy.
“Well, I think it’s just slowed down right now because of the economy,” Nichols said. “Usually in the summertime we pick up big time.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site for building statistics, unincorporated Canyon County issued 11 building permits for single family residences in May and 55 this year through May. In comparison, the county issued 92 through May in 2007, and 207 for the year.
Like in Caldwell and Payette County, Holloway said, the majority of permits have come from additions and remodeling, although he said commercial activity in Ontario is doing well. The slowdown in work coming in has also impacted how Holloway intends to structure his budget requests.
While he had previously intended to budget for an assistant, Holloway said he now will hold off for a year or two to see what happens with the economy.
“But right now, I can’t justify hiring another person,” he said, adding that is a marked departure from last year. “Last year, I was screaming for help.”
