Residential building permits were up 14.9 percent in Benton and Washington counties in the first half of this year compared with the same time in 2014, according to the biannual Skyline Report released Tuesday.
Planners in the two counties issued 1,359 permits this year compared with 1,183 in the first six months of last year. Nearly two-thirds of this year's permits, or 845, were in Benton County. Increased building created the lowest level of residential lot supply in the area since 2008.
Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, said job and population growth drive residential housing demand.
"Because we have population growth, we will continually have to be refreshing the housing stock," she said.
The Skyline Report is compiled by the center and sponsored by Arvest Bank.
There were 3,769 existing homes sold in the two-county area over the first six months of 2015, an increase of 20.7 percent from the 3,122 sold during the same time frame in 2014. Nearly a third of the region's home sales were in the Bentonville School District.
Johneese Adams, senior vice president and mortgage loan manager for Arvest Bank in Fayetteville, said the numbers that show an average home sales price drop in Benton County are a bit misleading.
She said the average cost per square foot increased, meaning people are buying smaller homes.
The average price of Benton County homes sold in the first half of this year was $200,326, down from $203,419 in the last six months of 2014. The average price per square foot was $97.77, up from $88.61.
Washington County's average price of $194,654 was up from $178,774 and the average price per square foot was $93.21, up from $89.30.
"Slightly smaller homes with the same types of amenities seen in larger homes may drive down the average value of the building permit, but it reflects the added value that people are looking for while shopping for a home now," Adams said in a news release.
The average value of residential building permits in the two-county area through the first half of the year was $234,753, down from $235,890 in the same time in 2014.
Business on 09/30/2015