Permit activity, unemployment rate decline in 2nd quarter

One of the commercial construction permits issued in the second quarter was for this Pollo Tropical restaurant on Dunlawton Avenue in Port Orange.

DAYTONA BEACH The number of new home and commercial construction permits issued across Volusia County in the second quarter of the year dipped when compared to the first quarter and the same three-month period a year ago.

However, county officials are taking a wider view of building activity.

In my personal view, one quarter does not a trend make and we need to wait and see for the next quarters, said Rob Ehrhardt, Volusia Countys economic development director, during Fridays quarterly economic development briefing at Daytona Beach International Airport attended by more than 150 people.

Volusia County and its 16 cities issued 280 new single-family home construction permits in the April-through-June quarter, according to data compiled by the economic development division. Thats down 18 percent from the same period a year ago and down 19 percent from the first quarter.

Timing is one reason for the dip, builders said. Permits are usually issued two to three months after a sales contract is signed. Since sales cooled late in the first quarter due to severe bad weather in the Midwest and Northeast, second quarter permit activity took a slight hit.

Residential permit activity for the first half of the year, however, is better than it was a year ago.

There were 628 home construction permits issued January through June. Thats up almost 8 percent from the 582 permits issued in the first six months of 2013. Its also the highest level for the first half of any year since 2008 when 666 permits were issued.

We are not seeing a flattening out, just the opposite. Our sales are up, said Jim Mather, vice president of Paytas Homes in Port Orange.

The homebuilder has sold 58 homes through July, mostly in its Promenade subdivision in New Smyrna Beach. The company sold 65 in all of last year.

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Permit activity, unemployment rate decline in 2nd quarter