Single-family permitting was up 21% in Pasco County in 2019, compared to the previous year — and for the first time, the county’s single-family residential average permit value topped $300,000.
Those were among the statistics that County Administrator Dan Biles shared with the Pasco County Commission during its Jan. 7 meeting.
“As you know, there’s typically a two-year lag between when something gets a permit to when it hits the tax rolls. But, this gives us an idea that the builder community thinks the economy is still heading in the right way because they are still pulling a tremendous amount of permits, from a new single-family home construction perspective,” Biles said.
The increase in the average permit value also demonstrates that “not only are we building more, but we’re building at a higher value,” the administrator added.
Biles said the statistics indicate “the builders are thinking the economy is still going to be strong through the next 12 to 18 months. Otherwise, they would start pulling back.”
Biles also noted that commercial activity is up, too, with a 7% increase, according to county figures.
The total number of permits issued in 2019 was nearly 52,000. A lot of those permits were for remodels, changing out water heaters, air conditioners and so forth, Biles said.
Overall, the total value of new construction in the county topped $1.6 billion last year, the administrator said.
That figure, he said, indicates “tremendous confidence in the economy, not just from the builders but from the people doing renovations, repairs and remodels in their own homes and their commercial buildings.”
Pasco economy:
Single-family residential permits
2019: 4,335
2018: 3,586
2017: 3,527
2017: 2,732
2015: 1,979
2014: 1,809
New commercial permits
2019: 498
2018: 464
2017: 350
2016: 333
2015: 447
Total permits issued
2019: 51,902
2018: 49,517
2017: 45,391
2016: 39,776
Total permit value of new construction
2019: $1.6 billion
2018: Around $1.4 billion
2017: Around $1.4 billion
2016: Around $1 billion
2015: $600,000
Source: Pasco County
Published January 15, 2020
