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Bill Freehling is a business writer for The Free Lance-Star and Fredericksburg.com. This blog is on Fredericksburg-area business. Send an e-mail to Bill Freehling.

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April 8th, 2009, 1:57 pm

Building permits show some positive signs

Below are the number of building permits that were filed in March for single-family detached houses in the Fredericksburg area. Data are courtesy of the Fredericksburg Area Builders Association. While the overall numbers continued to decline, there was improvement in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. See Friday’s FLS Business section for more. 

SPOTSYLVANIA        
  2006 2007 2008 2009
JAN 83 39 18 18
FEB  66 47 29 16
MAR 84 49 13 26
APR 77 58 19  
MAY 89 45 20  
JUN 133 46 33  
JUL 87 52 17  
AUG 70 83 23  
SEP 60 35 18  
OCT 57 46 13  
NOV 49 32 15  
DEC 47 30 15  
Yr. Total 902 562 233 60
 
CAROLINE        
  2006 2007 2008 2009
JAN 28 27 19 5
FEB  35 17 15 2
MAR 54 28 21 3
APR 49 20 24  
MAY 36 25 11  
JUN 45 27 15  
JUL 40 20 24  
AUG 35 27 9  
SEP 19 15 11  
OCT 18 15 13  
NOV 22 19 5  
DEC 22 12 5  
Yr. Total 403 252 172 10
 
STAFFORD        
  2006 2007 2008 2009
JAN 98 46 41 26
FEB  69 73 22 23
MAR 69 75 27 39
APR 52 57 39  
MAY 76 47 24  
JUN 127 70 14  
JUL 70 64 39  
AUG 60 52 33  
SEP 52 31 39  
OCT 32 43 30  
NOV 62 33 10  
DEC 39 28 22  
Yr. Total 806 619 340 88
 
ORANGE        
  2006 2007 2008 2009
JAN 39 40 14 5
FEB  37 17 6 6
MAR 65 30 15 4
APR 36 45 10  
MAY 60 37 10  
JUN 28 60 13  
JUL 34 44 16  
AUG 43 18 21  
SEP 23 10 4  
OCT 26 13 6  
NOV 26 13 6  
DEC 20 20 4  
Yr. Total 437 347 125 15
 
      KING GEORGE        
  2006 2007 2008 2009
JAN 12 22 13 3
FEB  26 15 14 8
MAR 39 20 10 5
APR 45 23 13  
MAY 20 29 9  
JUN 27 29 9  
JUL 20 24 13  
AUG 22 18 7  
SEP 31 15 6  
OCT 19 18 6  
NOV 22 10 6  
DEC 13 7 6  
Yr. Total 296 230 112 16
 
FREDERICKSBURG        
  2006 2007 2008 2009
JAN 28 10 4 5
FEB  18 3 9 1
MAR 26 5 5 4
APR 9 10 6  
MAY 53 4 9  
JUN 20 5 9  
JUL 1 14 17  
AUG 46 14 16  
SEP 8 5 7  
OCT 0 11 6  
NOV 17 5 0  
DEC 12 9 0  
Yr. Total 238 95 88 10

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Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/businessbrowser/2009/04/08/building-permits-show-some-positive-signs/

  • jaeshuan

    running par with 2008 isnt improvement. lateral at best, but 2008 was a recession as well.

  • freehling

    You’re right, of course. It’s not pretty compared with normal conditions. And overall the six-locality total is down YTD from last year’s weak numbers. Yet the numbers were up year-over-year in March in both Spotsy and Stafford for the first time in at least three years. So while it may not be much, it’s at least some somewhat positive news in an industry that needs all it can get.

  • mich22408

    Of course we still have a number of houses that sit empty in each of these localities. What are the numbers on foreclosures? Are they still on the rise? If so, these numbers don’t mean a thing.

  • MrWonderful

    I would like to less building permits issued instead of more. This slow period of residential growth will pay off in the future.

  • freehling

    It’s certainly true that what’s good for builders isn’t necessarily good for the housing market. New houses add inventory to the market, while there are numerous foreclosures out there sitting empty. However some buyers don’t want a foreclosure, which are often left in bad shape. Because so many industries are tied to the home building market (furniture, carpet, etc.), improvement in the building numbers is generally a positive for the overall local economy.

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