Oct 3 2009
The pace of home building remained steady, although not spectacular, last month in the Pikes Peak region, while foreclosure filings continued on a record pace, a pair of reports showed Thursday.
Single-family home building permits in Colorado Springs and surrounding El Paso County totaled 97 in September, unchanged from the same month a year ago, according to a Pikes Peak Regional Building Department report. Single-family permits had showed year-over-year gains in each of the three months prior to September.
Year to date, however, home building lags behind a few years ago. For the first three quarters of 2009, single-family building permits totaled 845 in El Paso County, down 20 percent from 1,056 in the same period last year. Two years ago, permits in the first three quarters totaled 1,826; in 2006, they totaled 2,957 during the same period.
Single-family permits are a closely-watched barometer of the local economy. Home builders employ thousands of people, and many have laid off workers in recent years as construction has slumped.
Also, city and county governments levy sales taxes on the purchase of building materials, but those revenues have declined because of the building slump. Revenue reductions have forced some governments, such as Colorado Springs, to cut services and layoff off employees.
Meanwhile, El Paso County foreclosure filings totaled 453 in September, according to the County Public Trustee's Office. Year-to-date, filings total 4,106 and likely will break last year's record of 4,602 and even exceed 5,000, Public Trustee Tom Mowle said in his report.
One piece of good news, Mowle said. The pace of foreclosure filings slowed noticeably as September wore on, he said. Also, September's average of 21 filings per day was the lowest of any month this year.
Source: http://www.builderonline.com/