The number of new homes authorized for construction by building permits in North Dakota decreased for the first time since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

North Dakota building permits issued in 2006 totaled 3,529, which is a decrease of 12.6 percent from 4,038 in 2005. The total construction value associated with these permits increased 1 percent to $462.3 million, up from $457.8 million in 2005.

This month's ""Economic Brief,"" a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on the number and construction value of new housing units authorized for construction by building permits in North Dakota. The data was supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Residential Construction Branch.

In 2006, single-family homes comprised nearly two-thirds of new authorized housing in North Dakota (65.1 percent). This proportion is up from 58.6 percent in 2005. Nationally, single-family homes comprised 74.9 percent of new housing in 2006. The construction value per single-family home in North Dakota averaged $153,761 in 2006, up from $147,836 in 2005. Nationally, construction values averaged $178,264 per single-family home in 2006.

The overall decline in building permits for North Dakota between 2005 and 2006 was largely the result of a 26.3 percent decrease in permits for multiple-unit housing (from 1,671 in 2005 to 1,232 in 2006).

""This drop in multiple-unit housing permits may be an adjustment due to oversupply,"" says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. ""In Fargo, apartment vacancy rates grew from an annual average of 4.5 percent in 2001 to 8.5 percent in 2005."

Texas, Florida and California continue to capture nearly one-third of all new housing units authorized for construction in the U.S. (31.6 percent in 2006).

NDSU Agriculture Communication