Star Tribune Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:37:11 GMT
Homebuilding skid varies across the metro
Two years after builders got permits for 45 homes in St. Paul Park, where Sittlow is city administrator, the grand total for 2007 was just that: Three. Twin Cities homebuilders released data last week showing that their members pulled only half as many permits to build new homes last year as they did two years earlier. Even more striking, however, are the vast differences in what's happening in individual cities across the region. In Stillwater, the number was a tenth of what it was in 2005. In Monticello, a fifth. But other cities' numbers are holding steady, or even rising. The city-by-city differences matter because they're evidence of how rising gasoline prices might affect the area's housing market, and the area's recent history of far-flung development. And there's also another unsettling factor: Sudden changes in homebuilding can affect a city's finances and its taxes. ... St. Paul Park is not far out, but the city administrator thinks its measly three homes built last year is a function of the land market there. "We don't have a lot of space that's not in the hands of large developers, who aren't doing anything right now," Sittlow said. "The housing economy is hurting almost everyone."
[[keywords: Housing;Metro;]]
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