2005 home permits up 35% in Council Bluffs

[Ingersoll1978]

Good news for Council Bluffs.

Single-family home permits up nearly 35 percent from last year in C.B.

[icejammer]

Just a year-end followup to this:

Housing permits up 27%, hit all-time high

[loyalomahan]

That would be great if Pottawattamie joined the other two core metro counties to have double digit population growth in the 2010 census.

[icejammer]

Single-family permits continue to exceed previous year, up ~35% 1stQ this year over last year:

Housing permit numbers on the rise

There were 62 single-family housing permits issued in Council Bluffs during the first three months of this year, compared to 46 during the same time in 2005, according to information supplied by City Building Official Dan Woellhof.


Wait (sic) a minute, March 31 was several days ago.

"Let's see, one, two, three ... seven," counted Woellhof on the number of new permit requests that were on his counter Thursday morning.

And those came in, with some other planned projects, in just half a day's time.

In fact, Woellhof estimated that the total number of single-family housing permits issued and permits applied for is already around 100.

"We're doing a lot of smaller, more affordable homes - more so than bigger homes."

The most popular areas for these homes are east of Lake Manawa and in the Sunset Park neighborhood, he said.

[icejammer]

Permits for new single-family construction continue at a nice clip in Council Bluffs:

New housing continues to increase in Bluffs

Housing construction in Council Bluffs continues to move at a brisk pace, according to the latest figures from the city's building division.

Through the end of April, there were 89 single-family housing permits issued, the same total recorded at this time in last year's record-setting numbers.

Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County even have advantages over the big city across the river, Jerkovich said.

For example, the traveling distance to and from downtown Omaha from the city's western subdivision is much further than those living in Council Bluffs, he said. And, motorists don't drive to and from work with the sun in their eyes, he added.

"It's been an advantage for us at Bent Tree subdivision with little traffic and therefore less stressful," Jerkovich said.

Property taxes are lower here, especially in the county, he said.

"Bigger lots, lower taxes, less congestion," Jerkovich said of the advantages.

This contrasts with what the World-Herald was reporting for new home construction yesterday.....

New home building slowing down a bit

According to statistics gathered by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, single-family building permits issued by Omaha-area cities and counties in the first three months of the year numbered 976, down 178 from the same period in 2005.

[Uffda]

"We're doing a lot of smaller, more affordable homes - more so than bigger homes."

I can't read the articles but curious as the price range of the more affordable houses over there.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Good, good. I think there is a little too much of a lopsidedness to the metro and it needs to even out more on the Iowan side.

[eomaha]

Yeah it's good to see Council Bluffs/Pottawattamie start showing growth commensurate with it's percentage of the metro population. It needs to grow much more quickly or it's going to lose it's standing to Bellevue as 2nd largest metro city over the next few decades.

[icejammer]

I can't read the articles but curious as the price range of the more affordable houses over there.

I think the two neighborhoods mentioned start in around $150k.

It needs to grow much more quickly or it's going to lose it's standing to Bellevue as 2nd largest metro city over the next few decades.

Unfortunately, CB doesn't have the ability to annex like Bellevue to add to pop. However, I think once the interstate reconstruction is in place, that will help spur an increase in growth rate (unless of course gas prices are $6 by then), much like the Kennedy Freeway (and connecting roads) upgrade has helped spur Sarpy growth in the last decade.