Building in Lincoln County holds steady

LINCOLN COUNTY – The building of new homes and remodeling of old ones is holding steady in Lincoln County and officials are seeing the demand grow despite Covid-19 shutdowns earlier this year.

Lincoln County Building Official Ryan James said he is seeing an increased demand for building permits, as many people already had plans to build in the works before the Covid shutdowns.

“There were lots of people who wanted to build but couldn’t earlier this year,

James related. “The contractors I am talking to said there is lots of work out there and not enough people to do it. If a contractor is worth anything right now, he’s busy.”

James said he had seven building applications setting on his desk at that moment, waiting for approval.

In terms of growth hotspots in the county, James said it has been pretty widespread.

“We have had quite a few applications from Reardan, Deer Meadows and Porcupine Bay along with several in Lincoln,” James said. “Most of the people are either retired or building second homes.”

There is also a trend of urban to rural migration happening, as people seek to leave the issues in their cities.

“People who have lived for 30 years in their two bedroom house in Seattle are now able to sell it for $500,000 or $600,000 and they move out here and build a mansion, “ James observed. “We also have quite a few people from Arizona, the winter snowbirds, building second homes.”

According to the Lincoln County Public Works department, there have been 29 permits issued for stick built homes so far this year and 9 permits for manufactured homes. At the end of 2019, the county had issues permits for 43 stick built homes and six manufactured homes.

The City of Davenport is also seeing permit numbers hold strong for the year. So far the city has issued 63 permits for home remodels, compared to a total of 66 in 2019.

Davenport City Clerk Dave Leath attributes the steady figures in remodeling permits to the current favorable banking policies and interest rates.

“Right now interest rates are zero to three percent instead of seven percent, which means more people are interested in investing in their homes,” Leath related. “We are also seeing a bit of a population migration with more interest in homes that are available.”

Leath noted that in the last economic slump, there were 45 homes in Davenport in some stage of forclosure. Despite the economic shutdown due to Covid, Leath noted there are no current foreclosures.

“We also only have four or five liens on houses when we used to have over 50,” Leath said.