Building is going through the roof

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

Some area cities have already nailed down building records or will easily do so in 2017.

Through Aug. 31, Spirit Lake had issued 79 permits for new single-family homes, shattering the year-end record of 62 in 2005.

Just to the south, Rathdrum will easily surpass its record. The city had issued 129 permits through the end of August, pushing toward its record of 149 set last year.

"We're estimating that the number will be 160 to 180, but it's looking closer to 180," said Leon Duce, Rathdrum city administrator. "People love Rathdrum. It's a friendly community that has a nice feel to it. It's a great place to raise a family and live. We also have room for growth."

Spirit Lake was recently forced to implement a building permit moratorium due to its sewer system being at capacity.

Growth in other areas of Kootenai County also remains steady as it appears Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Kootenai County will finish the year with comparable numbers to a busy 2016.

Kootenai County had issued 271 permits through Aug. 31 compared to 325 for 2016. Coeur d'Alene issued 219 this year and 243 all of last year.

Post Falls issued 227 so far this year and 338 all of last year.

"The pace of building within the city of Post Falls is the same as 2016, which was one of our top three or four biggest years," said Justin Miller, Post Falls building official.

Hayden's growth this year is comparable to most recent years with 60 single-family home permits after spiking to 150 last year.

"We are experiencing growth in smaller infill subdivisions," said Connie Krueger, Hayden's community development director. "We have recently extended sewer to industrial- and residential-zoned lands and are seeing growth occur in these areas at the north end of the city."

Miller said he believes the housing boom is healthy.

"Vacancy rates are low and all housing sectors are in demand," he said.

Miller said the economic recovery, the city's central location, access to recreation opportunities and a friendly business community are among the factors behind growth in Post Falls. The city's population will be about 39,000 in 2020 compared to 7,349 in 1990.

Sam Wolkenhauer, Idaho Department of Labor regional economist, said job availability for new residents isn't a concern.

According to estimates from the Census Bureau, Kootenai County had a net migration of about 3,200 from 2015 to 2016 and a total of about 12,300 in net migration since 2010.

"Despite all of this in-migration, our unemployment rate has been persistently dropping, and the labor market is not sending us signals indicating that it's struggling to accommodate new residents," Wolkenhauer said. "I would wager that a majority of new residents are either job attached when they move here or they are moving here to retire. Job growth has been strong enough to accommodate the rest."

He said the construction boom is a positive for the area.

"Construction tends to be one of our higher- paying industries, and the skills required are highly specific, meaning construction is less likely to directly compete for labor with other industries," he said.

The sizzling construction market has also resulted in labor shortages.

"Industrywide a very significant challenge is a shortage of skilled construction trade workers," said Tommy LaRiviere, president and CEO of LaRiviere Construction. "The school districts via KTEC (Kootenai Technical Education Campus) and North Idaho College are doing a wonderful job in training and our market could use even more workers."

The growth may make some cringe when comparing it to the boom years of more than decade ago, but Wolkenhauer said there are economic differences between the two periods that are staving off that concern. He said it's "very unlikely" we're in a real estate bubble, which is when overbuilding becomes an economic danger.

"In 2007 real estate was growing because of specific financial conditions," he said. "Currently our construction boom is being driven by population growth, especially the in-migration of retirees from other states.

"The engine driving the current boom is not sub-prime mortgages and over-leveraging. It's the retirement of baby boomers. Construction and real estate is much more likely to taper off safely than to collapse."