Follow Us 
Current Poll
| Trying to build up a market |
 |
 |
 |
| News - Community News | |||
| Written by Brian McCauley | |||
| Wednesday, 14 January 2009 08:00 | |||
|
The struggling housing market hurt new-home numbers across the country in 2008, and Paola was no exception. Still, city officials are pointing to signs that things aren’t as bad in Paola as they could be. Fifteen permits for new homes were issued by Paola’s permit office last year, compared to 32 in 2007, 36 in 2006, 46 in 2005 and 61 in 2004, according to city documents. The total number of permits issued by the city, which includes anything from commercial development to home remodeling, also have dropped over the past few years. The city issued 511 total permits last year, compared to 741 in 2007 and 911 in 2006, according to city documents. Paola permit technician Amy Barenklau said the high numbers in 2004 could be attributed to the housing boom that came with the launch of Rockwood Estates and Heatherwood Estates developments, among others in Paola. Although she admits the declining number of new homes is a sign of the rough economic times, she did say that the drop off is not as bad as what is being seen in other communities. Louisburg’s new-home permits dropped to 14 in 2008, compared to 97 in 2007 and 120 in 2006. Barenklau also said there has been a high amount of commercial work done recently, as well as several permits issued for home remodeling. “Historically, when residential is not moving, that’s when you see commercial take off,” she said. “People also are investing in the homes they have.” That’s an investment that Paola City Manager Jay Wieland previously has said he hopes will pay off when the housing market turns around. As for when that will happen, that’s still anybody’s guess, Barenklau said. “People are still apprehensive and gun shy,” she said.
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Hits: 821 Trackback(0)
Comments (0)
 Write comment
You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
