Dane County housing starts still stalled

The Capital Times  —  11/11/2008 12:51 pm

Housing starts continued to be at a virtual standstill in Dane County in October, with only 52 building permits issued for single-family homes, condos or duplexes, 10 fewer than September and less than half the number issued in October 2007.

Through October, 612 building permits have been issued in the county, down almost 40 percent from the 1,005 permits issued through October last year. The building permit statistics were compiled by MTD Marketing Services of Neenah.

The city of Madison has seen new housing starts cut in half this year, with only 145 permits issued in 2008 compared to 305 permits issued through October 2007.

Verona has also seen a big drop in new home building this year, with only 32 permits issued through October compared to 71 in 2007. Fitchburg has issued 40 building permits this year compared to 67 last year, while Sun Prairie permits are only down six, from 68 last year to 62 this year.

The city and town of Middleton seem to be weathering the new home building collapse, with 27 permits issued so far this year in the city compared to 14 last year, and 28 issued in the town in 2008 compared to 18 last year.

While building permit numbers are down, the average value and size of homes continue to go up.

The MTD report shows the average value of new housing construction in Dane County in October to be $263,384, compared to an average last year of $241,062, with the average square footage at 2,536 square feet compared to 2,342 square feet last October.

The year-to-date comparison is also higher, with the value of new homes this year averaging $269,691 compared to $248,783 last year and the size of homes this year coming in at an average 2,573 square feet compared to 2,431 square feet in 2007.

From a peak of 2,156 new home building permits issued during the first 10 months of 2004, starts have fallen every year since, to 2,007 in 2005, 1,233 in 2006, 1,005 in 2007 and 612 in 2008.

The value and size of new homes, however, have kept rising for the past decade.

The average value of a new home built in 1999 in Dane County was $156,049, so with the average now at $269,691, the value of a new home constructed this year is up 73 percent from 10 years ago.

Square footage of new homes this year is 27.5 percent greater than homes built in 1999, going from 2,017 square feet in 1999 to 2,573 square feet this year.

The Capital Times  —  11/11/2008 12:51 pm