The top three Inland Northwest builders of single-family homesViking Construction Inc., Sullivan Homes Inc., and Greenstone Corp.all saw their total building-permit values rise last year, compared with 2006, says an annual list compiled by Cedar City, Utah-based Construction Monitor Inc.


Still, the rest of the top 10 contractors on the list experienced decreases in overall permit values from the previous year.


The combined value of permits obtained by the areas top 10 builders last year was $177.8 million, down from $180.7 million the year before.


In 2006, all but one of the top 10 builders had total permit values of more than $10 million, while in 2007 only the top four companies values exceeded $10 million, although the top three all were over $30 million for the first time, the list shows.


Though the top three builders had overall higher permit values, just one of themGreenstonewas issued more building permits last year than in 2006, and the total number of permits issued to the top 10 builders fell to 467 last year from 500 in 2006, according to the figures.


Construction Monitor defines the Inland Northwest market as including Spokane, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties in Washington and Kootenai and Bonner counties in Idaho, plus the municipalities located within those counties.


Viking, of Hayden, topped the list again, obtaining building permits for 201 homes with a total value of just under $40 million, up from $39.3 million in 2006. Viking had 34 fewer permits in 2007 than in the prior year, but its average permit value increased to $198,813 from $167,036 in 2006.


Sullivan Homes, of Spokane Valley, moved up one position to second place on the latest list, leapfrogging Greenstone, due to a sharply higher total permit value of $37.5 million last year, up from $24.7 million in 2006. Sullivan took out 74 permits last year, which was 27 fewer than it had in 2006, although the average value of its permits soared to $507,346 in 2007, up from $244,594 the prior year, the list shows.


Greenstone, of Liberty Lake, fell to third from second on the latest list, even though it took out 192 permits28 more than in 2006worth a total of $34.3 million in 2007, up from $27.9 million the prior year.


Hallmark Homes, of Coeur dAlene, last year advanced to fourth place from fifth on the list, though its total permit value of $14.1 million was down $1.5 million from the previous year. Meanwhile, last years fourth-ranked builder, Condron Construction Inc., of Spokane, dropped to fifth place with permits totaling $9.4 million, down from $16.9 million in 2006.


Diamond Rock Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley, entered the top 10 in sixth place, up from 12th place in 2006, with permits totaling $9.2 million, up from $2.5 million in 2006.


The rest of the top 10 home builders for 2007, ranked in order from seventh to 10th place, were Hayden, Idaho-based Copper Basin Construction Inc., Spokane-based Paras Construction Inc., Coeur dAlene-based Discovery Builders Idaho LLC, and Coeur dAlene-based Victory Homes.


Contact Jeanne Gustafson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at [email protected].