Permit sales for new housing construction in Klamath County are less than a tenth of the number of permit sales just six years ago…but, there’s still reason to be optimistic.
Erick Melgoza says that work hasn’t been very steady for the past few years…
“Off and on, like a couple weeks off, couple weeks on – it’s been like that since, except this year’s been pretty steady.”
Building permits for single-family homes in Klamath County hit a peak of 532 in 2006. While numbers for the current fiscal year are well below that, Klamath County Community Development Director Sid Mitchell reports those numbers are holding steady…
“Ours starts in July – to this current month, we’re at 43 homes, new residential homes being built. And ironically, it’s exactly the same as it was last year, in the same time frame.”
And some permit sales are actually improving. While permit sales for single family construction are holding steady, permits for commercial construction like the Sanford Children’s Clinic are up by about 18%.
“We had 175 last year, and at this time right now we have 205.” Sid Mitchell noted. Mitchell adds that while construction numbers are low, they’re not dropping. “I look at that as a good thing. It’s consistency, and we still have construction, and things going on.”
And Erick Melgoza is happy to be one of those that are working…
“Oh, it feels pretty good. A lot of people are not, so I feel lucky.”
But, it could take a while to re-build a healthy economy.
Permits for commercial construction in Klamath County range from a high of 410 permits sold in 2007, to a low of just 29 permits sold in 2004.
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