Pace of home building unchanged in September from a year ago

The pace of Colorado Springs-area home construction was unchanged last month, according to a report released today by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.

Single-family home building permits in the Springs and surrounding El Paso County totaled 97 in September, identical to the same month a year ago, the report showed.

Single-family permits had increased in each of the three months prior to September.

Year to date, however, home building continues to trail last year's pace and lags far behind a few years ago. For the first three quarters of 2009, single-family building permits totaled 845 in El Paso County, down 20 percent from 1,056 in the same period last year. Two years ago, permits totaled 1,826 during the first three quarters; in 2006, single-family permits totaled 2,957 during the same period.

The home building industry is a major part of the Pikes Peak region's economy; builders employ thousands of contractors and subcontractors, many of whom have laid off workers in recent years as construction has slumped.

City and county governments also levy sales taxes on the purchase of building materials, but those revenues have suffered because of the building slump. The revenue reduction has forced some governments, such as Colorado Springs, to cut services as a result.