Valley home builders pick up the pace in 2018
Commercial construction & solar stalls
July 2,2018-
San Joaquin Valley home builders have picked up the pace of single family home construction during the first half of 2018.
According to Construction Monitor the four-county Central Valley saw 2076 new homes permitted through June 2018 compared to 1519 for the same period in 2017. The value of all single-family home permits jumped to $524 million compared to $377 million during the same period in 2017.
Top home builders this year were number-one Lennar, permitting 273 units, and DR Horton with 299 units but a slightly lower valuation. Last year saw Lennar with 158 units and San Joaquin Valley homes at 200 units, again with a smaller valuation.
Builders were particularly busy in Fresno County this year permitting 1151 single-family homes in the first half of this year compared to 658 homes in the first half of 2017.
Total residential construction in the region was valued at $656 million so far in 2018 vs $507 million through June 2017.That is an increase of around 22 percent.
On the commercial side valuation in the four-county area declined to $284 million in the first half of 2018 compared $428 million for same time in 2017. The biggest drop in this category came in industrial building construction as well as office construction.
Solar installation numbers are down this year as well. In 2018 Fresno,Tulare Kings and Madera counties permitted $135 million in solar projects vs $391 million for the first half of 2017, with the biggest drop in commercial projects but a small decline in the number of residential solar units.