All of the central Utah counties exhibited declining home permits during 2012. Sevier County managed the second-largest county decrease in the state. For the most part other construction categories showed county-by-county losses as well. Here’s a brief construction permit update for each area with available data.
Millard County
In Millard County, every single permitting category showed a decrease in values during 2012. Of course, although new home permits dropped by 48 percent in 2012, these figures are compared to a nice surge in new home construction that occurred in 2011. New nonresidential values also dropped by 42 percent. Overall, total permit-approved values declined by 45 percent.
Sanpete County
Sanpete County followed the area trend with a 49-percent drop in new home permits. However, the county hasn’t seen a dearth of home permits since the national housing bubble collapsed. In 2010, home permits actually ticked up nicely. And, while new nonresidential permitting dropped during 2012, nonresidential additions/alterations/repairs popped up by more than 280 percent. In fact, this category accounted for almost one-fourth of the permit values. Nevertheless, total values contracted by 22 percent during 2012.
Sevier County
There’s no home permit joy in Sevier County either. The number of dwelling unit permits dropped 64 percent in 2012 marking the sixth straight year of home permit declines. Fortunately, nonresidential permitting took up the slack. Sevier County was the only county in the area to show a year-to-year gain in total permit values (69 percent). A large nonresidential additions/alterations/repair permit helped drive total values up substantially. In fact, this category accounted for two-thirds of total permit values.
Wayne County
Wayne County completed the central Utah area’s 2012 dwelling-unit decline record. However, while the number of dwelling units in the county dropped by 7 percent (just one permit), residential additions/alterations/repairs jumped 75 percent. Moreover, residential permitting still accounted for two-thirds of total permitted values. Nonresidential permitting declined notably helping to keep total permit values down about 11 percent during 2012.
