The Johnston County Building Inspections Department had one of their busiest months ever in August because of a sixty percent jump in permits issued for new single family home construction.
“Our office issued 235 permits for new single family homes in the month of August 2020. That is a 60 percent increase from August 2019, with 145 new single family home permits issued that month,” said Shane Hudson, Director of Inspections. “In my opinion, that increase is due to the number of new subdivisions that have begun construction throughout the county, and the fact that builders are trying to increase their available inventory.”
Housing Permits Up 30+ Percent In First 8 Months Of 2020
“During the period from January 1, 2020 through August 31, 2020, our office saw an increase of over 30 percent in issued permits for new single family homes. We have also had an increase of almost 50 percent for permits issued for town homes,” Mr. Hudson told Johnston County Report.
However, Hudson anticipates a slowdown in housing starts going into the Fall due to higher costs for lumber and other construction supplies. “With the price increase of building materials, as well as the extended wait time to receive materials such as windows and doors, I feel the building process will slow down over the next couple of months.”
In August 2020, the inspections department issued 8 permits for commercial construction up from 5 in August 2019. Five permits were issued for doublewide mobile homes and 8 permits for singlewides, both of those numbers being down slightly from a year earlier.
Inspectors passed 5,407 inspections and failed 1,591 in August.
The department collected $319,770.55 in fees last month up from $225,076.80 in Aug. 2019.
