How slow can it go?
<p>Adam Bortfeld props up a piece of board as Ken Stoddard clips on his safety rope Thursday while working on the roof of a construction project at Tulamore in Post Falls. Permit numbers in area cities are down for the first half of 2010.</p>
POST FALLS - If there are any hints of an economic recovery, you won't find them with local cities' building permit numbers.
Cities report continued slow construction activity for the first half of 2010.
And building officials are not counting on a turnaround until at least next year.
"There's not a lot of activity - commercial or residential," said Russell Cornell, Post Falls building official. "We saw an increase with the homeowner tax credit, but as soon as that ended (last spring) our permit numbers dropped.
"What we're seeing now is what we have to look forward to for awhile. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, just looking at things realistically."
Coeur d'Alene has issued 96 single-family and eight commercial permits this year, compared to 126 and eight this time last year.
This year's single-family number is the lowest since 1990 when 82 permits were issued through June.
Cornell believes the slow building trend can be attributed to multiple factors.
"I think it's a combination of people not having jobs or people not willing to go into debt and just waiting to see what happens," he said. "A lot of the home sales going on now are on foreclosed houses. People are snapping up those at greatly reduced prices."
Cornell said the biggest movement has been issuing mechanical and alteration permits.
"People are staying in their homes and fixing them up instead of selling and buying a new one," he said.
Post Falls reported 60 new dwelling units in June, but Cornell said that number is beefed up by Whitewater Creek's senior project in Tullamore off Highway 41 and expected to be completed in May. Fifty of those units are in the project's four- and six-plex buildings.
"What you're really looking at is nine multi-family buildings and 10 regular single-family homes," Cornell said of the total dwelling units.
Even with the 60 units in June, Post Falls has only had 126 new dwelling units in 2010. The total may not even reach the 188 reported in 2008 if things don't pick up the rest of the summer.
It's just as slow on the commercial side as the city issued just one commercial building permit through the end of June.
"We don't have any large projects on the horizon," Cornell said.
Rathdrum has issued just 13 single-family permits this year along with one commercial permit.
With major builders regionwide, it's a better picture.
Through the end of June, Copper Basin Construction took out 71 home permits, which is ahead of last year and better than what the company predicted, said spokeswoman Linda Davis.
"Washington is the stronger market right now," she said. "We've got a strong military-buying contingent attached to Fairchild. Kootenai County seems more sensitive to the job situation."
She said the company hasn't had any layoffs and is starting to see a trend toward buying homes in the $300,000 range.
Davis said 30-year mortgage rates hovering at 4.6 percent is another sign of hope.
Hayden's cumulative permit data for 2010 was unavailable on Thursday.