RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMIT DATA

Since 1999, the SPDC has been collecting data on residential building permits. This data is useful because it easily depicts which parts of the District are growing, in terms of residential building. The data can be subdivided by construction type (singlewides, doublewides, stick built, modular, triplewides, etc.).

The data comes to us directly from each county's building officials department. Each month, copies of all the new residential construction permits are sent to us. This only includes permits for new residential homes. Replacement homes are included in the counts only if the owner is replacing a mobile home with a stick built home. This data is input into our database. We then plot the general location of each permit on a map, using GIS. This way, we can visualize areas of growth.

When viewing this data, please keep several items in mind:

-- Data about the value of a home is usually an estimate on the owner or contractor's behalf. Many times the estimate is the actual cost of the project, but sometimes the estimate may be further from the actual amount. This is NOT an appraised value. It is simply the amount of money that is needed to build or set up the house.

-- Square footage is more accurate than the estimated value. This is the figure that is used to calculate the permit fee, so it has to adhere closer to the actual square footage. It is usually taken from the blueprints themselves.

-- Square footage includes living area only. This does not include basements, porches, decks, garages, or carports.

-- For our purposes, log homes are considered regular stickbuilt homes.

-- Campers, tents, and other temporary housing are not included in any of this data.

-- Permits are considered to be in a subdivision only if the subdivision is named on the permit itself.

-- We count multiple family structures such as apartment buildings or duplexes by the number of permits that are applied for.

DOWNLOAD 1999 - 2003 BUILDING PERMIT REPORT (pdf, 126kb) This report contains tables that detail the number and types of residential new construction permits from 1999 through December 31, 2003. It also contains construction values, square footage, and charts.

The following table gives the total number of residential building permits by year, for the district, through October 31, 2003.. Each year is divided by construction type: DWMH: Doublewide Manufactured Home, MOD: Modular Home, SB: Stick Built (Conventionally Framed) Home, SWMH: Singlewide Manufactured Home, and TWMH: Triplewide Manufactured Home.