Residential permit activity picks up in second quarter
New home
construction in Volusia County picked up in the second quarter—the
first time in a year—while commercial construction activity held
steady, according to
information compiled by the Volusia County Department of Economic
Development from the county and city building permit offices.
Residential
For the
three-month period ending June 30, 178 residential building permits
worth $41 million were issued countywide. This is up from 124
permits issued in the January-February-March period. Residential
permits in the first quarter had a value of $34 million.
Among
Volusia’s cities, New Smyrna Beach issued the most residential
permits in the second quarter (32); followed by DeLand (27); Port
Orange (20); Daytona Beach
(19); Ormond Beach (17); and Deltona (15). In unincorporated
Volusia, mostly in areas west of Interstate 95, 46 residential
permits were issued in the second quarter.
New Smyrna
Beach also led the way among Volusia’s cities in total value of the
residential projects receiving permits in the second quarter ($6.5
million). Ormond
Beach followed with $6.4 million; DeLand ($6 million); Port Orange
($4.2 million); Deltona ($3.7 million); and Daytona Beach ($3.5
million).
The combined
value of the residential projects receiving permits during the
second quarter in unincorporated Volusia was $10.25 million.
Residential
construction activity in the county rose steadily throughout the
second quarter, with 70 permits issued in June, up from 59 in May
and 49 in April. The uptick in new home construction mirrors a
steady climb recently in sales of existing homes in Volusia County.
In June, the
Florida Association of Realtors reported an increase in sales of
existing homes in Volusia County, compared with the previous month,
for the seventh month
in a row.
Real estate
market observers consistently have maintained the inventory of
existing homes on the market needs to be trimmed significantly for a
rebound of the local home building industry to occur.
While the
increase in permits issued for new home construction in Volusia
suggests
that home builders are seeing “glimmers of hope,” the local market
has a long way to go before it can be deemed fully recovered from
the downturn that began in 2006, said Greg Blose, Director
of the Volusia Building Industry Association, which represents home
builders and commercial construction companies throughout the
county.
“What I’m
hearing from members is that slowly, things are starting to pick
up,” said
Blose.
Phil Ehlinger,
Director of Volusia County’s Department of Economic
Development, concurs. “We’re off the bottom,” he said.
Commercial
On the
commercial side, 20 permits were issued countywide in the second
quarter, compared with 19 permits issued in the first quarter.
The combined
value of the commercial projects permitted in the second quarter was
$17 million, down from $27 million in the first quarter.
Daytona Beach
issued the most commercial permits during the second quarter (four,
up from two in the first quarter). Port Orange, Deltona and New
Smyrna Beach
each issued two commercial projects during the second quarter.
DeLand, Holly Hill and Oak Hill each issued one commercial permit
during the second quarter.
In
unincorporated Volusia, seven commercial building permits were
issued during the second quarter, up from six in the first quarter.
Daytona Beach
also led the way among cities in the value of commercial projects
permitted during the second quarter (approximately $4 million),
followed by Port
Orange (approximately $1 million), and DeLand ($908,788). New
commercial projects permitted in unincorporated Volusia during the
second quarter had a value of $8.6 million.
Volusia’s
commercial construction activity picked up slightly in June with 10
permits issued countywide, up from four issued in May and six issued
in April.
While several
proposed new commercial projects in the area have been put on hold
during the current recession, there’s still a lot of planning going
on by developers anticipating the local economy’s eventual recovery,
said Ehlinger.
For example,
Ruba Properties Inc., Orlando, plans to build a retail center near
the DeLand Municipal Airport that will include a hotel and two
restaurants.
Natvar Nana,
Ruba’s president, recently told the Volusia/Flagler Business Report
that while plans to start construction of the project have been put
on hold until the economy recovers, he believes “DeLand will offer
tremendous opportunities for years to come.” He added the area “has
a good growth path. I see more businesses opening there constantly.”
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