New Report: October Single Family Home Permits Up 111 Percent
Contractors can’t build homes fast enough in Johnston County. In October 2020, the Johnston County Inspections Department issued 298 permits for new single family homes more than double the number in October 2019. Once completed, those homes are sold on average in three weeks.
Johnston County Inspections Director Shane Hudson said, ” We are still going strong with new home permits in Johnston County. In October 2020, we sold 298 new home permits compared to 142 in October 2019. That’s an increase of around 111%. Based on applications coming in daily, it does not appear to be slowing down. From January 1 through October 2020, we sold 2402 new home permits, compared to 1682 for the same time period in 2019. That is a 43% increase. With interest rates down currently, new homes do not seem to be sitting on the market long. According to information gathered from MLS for homes in the County, the average number of days a new construction stays on the market is around 22 days.”
In September, Johnston County Commissioners made some minor changes to their Land Use Plan to help control the rapid development but more needs to be done. Commissioners voted Nov. 2nd to fund a Comprehensive Land Use study. The study could be completed by the end of the year.
Commissioner Larry Wood said the rapid growth is concerning. ” I am very concerned, I believe we need to be very careful with the balance of homes and our infrastructure (for) example schools, roads and utilities. I believe we also need to be very aggressive in school construction. My hope is after this election season our board and the school board can put together a plan going forward. As far as growth going forward I’m hopeful we can get back to discussing municipal transition zones, which I believe will help main streets all over our county, as well as give citizen who prefer small lots and town like amenities just that.”
Commissioner Wood said he is in favor of building new schools inside municipalities whenever possible.
In October, the Inspections Department passed 7,172 inspections. The department collected $402,047.20 in fees up from $228,220.90 a year earlier.
