YTD housing permits

reach record for city

This year, the city of Spokane has issued the highest number of building permits for new housing units ever for the first eight months of a year, according to data compiled by the city.

From January through August of this year, a total of 1,066 housing units were permitted, the city’s August permit report shows. The total includes permits for 225 single-family residences with a total value of $77.6 million, up from 135 homes with a total value of $51 million in year-earlier period.

Apartments made up 74% of the total with 789 units permitted, a year-to-date total second only to the first eight months of 2023, when 833 multifamily permits were issued, the report shows.

This year’s eight-month total also includes 52 permits for residential units comprised of duplexes and conversions from other uses, down from 79 such permits issued in the year-earlier period.

The 2024 unit total represents a 25% increase over the prior three-year average, the report says.

Spokane market home

sales dip; Cd’A’s rises

A total of 541 homes were sold through the Spokane Multiple Listing Service in August, down 7% from August of 2023, the Spokane Association of Realtors reports. Through the first eight months of the year, a total of 3,824 homes have sold through the MLS, just two fewer than during the year-earlier period.

Home inventory increased 28%, reaching a 2.4-month supply in August, compared with the year-earlier month.

Meantime, across the Washington-Idaho line, a total of 1,580 homes have sold through the Coeur d’Alene Multiple Listing Service during the first eight months of this year, up just over 6% from the year-earlier period, the Coeur d’Alene Regional Realtors reports. Inventory also is up 6%, regional market data shows.

North Idaho interchange

construction is underway

The Idaho Transportation Department is beginning construction of an interchange at Idaho Route 53 and Pleasant View Road, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.

The $30 million project will enhance safety in the highly traveled corridor by eliminating three railroad-vehicle crossings, streamlining access to state Route 53, and increasing capacity on key routes.

Work will include:

*Constructing a diamond interchange at SR-53 and Pleasant View Road.

*Removing access to SR-53 from four roads: Hauser Lake Road, Hollister Hills Road, Prairie Avenue, and McGuire Road.

*Expanding Pleasant View Road to two lanes in each direction through the interchange.

*Widening SR-53 to two lanes in each direction with a new center median through the project limits.

Kent, Washington-based heavy civil contractor Scarsella Bros. Inc. is the contractor on the project.

Crews will start construction with tasks that likely won’t affect existing traffic flow for the remainder of the year, according to ITD. Impacts to drivers are anticipated to start in spring 2025. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

$18.2M secured

for airport project

Spokane International Airport will receive $18.2 million in federal funding for design and reconstruction of one of its taxiways, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The grant is the largest among a total of $48 million awarded statewide in September through the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, which funds airport infrastructure projects.

The Tri-Cities Airport, in Pasco, Washington was granted $12.7 million—the second largest award statewide in September. The funding will be used to shift a taxiway and runway to bring both into conformity with current standards.

August construction

job openings rebound

U.S. construction industry job openings increased by 138,000 in August to a total of 370,000 job openings for the month, according to an Associated Builders & Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The August increase follows a plunge of 51,000 jobs in July, which ABC attributes largely to effects of Hurricane Beryl.

While ABC describes the August increase in job openings as a record rebound from the previous month, industrywide jobs remained down 19% since a cyclical peak in February, and down more than 10% compared with August 2023.

Construction backlog

indicator shows decline

Associated Builders & Contractors reports that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell to 8.2 months in August from 8.4 months in July. The backlog also is down a full month compared with the year-earlier reading of 9.2 months.

Of the three subcategories measured by in the CBI, only the infrastructure category experienced a monthly increase, while the heavy industrial and commercial-institutional categories saw declines.

The backlog reading for the infrastructure category reading was 9.1 months, up from 7.5 months in July, reflecting strength in public construction spending, says Anirban Basu, CEO of ABC. Meantime, the commercial-institutional backlog was gaged at 8.3 months, down from 8.6 months in July, and the heavy industrial reading was 7.6 months, down from 11.1 months.

The backlog reading for all three subcategories was below year earlier levels of 10.2 months for infrastructure, 9.5 months for commercial-institutional, and 7.7 months for heavy industrial.