Fewer residential building permits issued in SLO County last year

Fewer residential building permits were issued in San Luis Obispo County last year than in 2014, according to data from the Home Builders Association of the Central Coast.

Last year, building permits were issued for 664 new single-family dwelling units, down 8.8 percent from 728 the year earlier.

Building permits issued for multifamily units totaled 209 new units in 2015, down 15.4 percent from 247 units in 2014. Multifamily housing includes duplexes, three- to four-unit structures and apartment-type structures with five or more housing units.

Taken together, the 873 residential building permits for single and multifamily units represented a 10.5 percent decrease from 2014.

In contrast, single-family and multifamily residential building permits statewide last year increased 13.8 percent.

Last year’s lower numbers reflect the high cost of building on the Central Coast, as well as growth limits, said Jeff Eckles, executive director of the Home Builders Association of the Central Coast.

Eckles said he anticipates this year’s residential permit numbers to be similar. He noted that the numbers aren’t as robust as they were before the recession, evidence that the building industry is still recovering.

The estimated cost of construction for all of the residential building permits issued in San Luis Obispo County — also known as residential valuation — was $287.71 million last year. That’s down 2.7 percent from 2014, when the residential valuation was $295.62 million.

The total valuation of all San Luis Obispo County building permits issued — residential and nonresidential (which includes commercial, industrial, alterations, additions and other) — was $431.74 million in 2015, up 4.8 percent from $411.79 million in 2014. Statewide, the total valuation of all building permits issued last year was $55.09 billion, up 14.6 percent.

Unincorporated areas had the most residential building permits issued in San Luis Obispo County last year: 292 permits, down from 309 the year before. The total residential valuation for those permits was $131.43 million. The city of San Luis Obispo issued the second most — 217, the same number as the year before. Total residential valuation for those permits issued last year was $56.49 million.

Here’s a closer look at other cities, year over year:

▪  Paso Robles: 142 building permits were issued — nearly four times the number issued in 2014. Last year, the total residential valuation reached $34.36 million.

▪  Atascadero: 99 last year, down from 189. Total residential valuation was $20.07 million.

▪  Pismo Beach: 62 last year, down from 140. Total residential valuation was $23.76 million.

▪  Grover Beach: 29 last year, up from 12. Total residential valuation was $7.28 million.

▪  Morro Bay: 19 last year, down from 28. Total residential valuation was $8.67 million.

▪  Arroyo Grande: 13 last year, down from 41. Total residential valuation was $5.62 million.

Looking back over the top building trends last year, Eckles noted that building has begun to pick up with the recovering economy and rising home prices.

“We have not been building enough homes to meet the demand,” Eckles said. “Our population and job growth have exceeded the rate at which we’ve been adding housing supply.”

Eckles said he continually hears from local employers that there is not sufficient local housing to attract and retain talented employees. If the constraint on supply continues, prices will only increase, he said, causing more working families to seek to live and work in other communities.

This year, Eckles said that builders and planners are looking at providing smaller, more creative developments to meet the need and keep prices as low as possible.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Fewer residential building permits issued in SLO County last year."