Construction Growth

Construction Growth

Most sectors grew, even though home construction declined in some areas.

By Sean Roth

Real Estate Editor

New single-family home construction declined in four Sarasota-Manatee regions during the first six months of the year, but all of the sectors, including single-family development, grew at a double-digit pace, according to The Construction Guide.

Overall, home starts in Sarasota County fell 13% to 1,006 in the first half of this year from 1,155 in the same period a year earlier. In Venice, starts fell 11% from 264 to 234. While Holmes Beach and Longboat Key declined by one and two starts, respectively.

Still, the construction market is humming along.

Every total construction sector gained in both starts and value from the previous year. The biggest winners on a percentage basis were duplex and multifamily construction, which grew by 110%, or 78 starts, and 90%, or 95, respectively. Those sectors also saw heavy growth in value. Multifamily construction grew by 131%, or $84.6 million, from $64.6 million to $149.2 million. The value of new duplexes grew by 108%, or $10.7 million, from $9.9 million for the first half of 2003 to $20.6 million this year.

Single-family and pool starts grew the most over last year. Single-family starts were up 27%, or by 1,068, from 4,004 to 5,072, while the total value of those permits increased by 29%, or $197.5 million. Pool starts grew by 21%, or 429, from 2,014 to 2,443 this year, and value climbed by $15.3 million to $59.7 million.

Commercial starts increased 19% from 402 to 478. Residential alteration permit values increased 17%, or $5.7 million, from $33.9 million to $39.6 million.

All but two of the surveyed localities - Holmes Beach and Sarasota County - experienced growth in construction starts. Holmes Beach starts fell by 37%, or 15, from 41 to 26, and Sarasota County's starts declined by 2%, or 49, from 2,325 to 2,276.

But at the same time, only Longboat Key's total value of new permits was lower than the same period last year. The island's permitted value decreased $1.5 million, or 10%, from about $15 million in 2003 to $13.5 million this year.

The hottest locality by percentage growth was Palmetto, where starts grew by 5,100% from two starts in the first half of 2003 to 104 starts. Similarly, Palmetto's new permit value increased by 10,386%, or $18.4 million, from $176,761 for new construction permits in 2003 to $18.5 million this year.

The North Port market is still red hot. Single-family starts in North Port grew by 63%, or 604, from 944 starts last year to 1,548.

North Port was second in total single-family permits issued behind Manatee County (2,067). North Port single-family permits grew in value by $88.2 million, from $107.7 million in the first half of the year last year to $195.8 million.

Manatee County experienced healthy single-family growth as well. Starts increased by 33%, or 508, raising the value of the new single-family growth by 41%, or $114.9 million.

Starts

SFR/ADuplexMFPoolComTotal

Anna Maria131 5

Bradenton42234362431 160

Bradenton Beach1422 9

City of Sarasota75725665 268

Holmes Beach2141171 26

Longboat Key15521152 85

Manatee 2,0671293 1,0461283,373

North Port1,548254826473232,143

Palmetto82787 104

Sarasota County1,00626979546801882,276

Venice23431143013231 472

Total5,0726261491482,4434788,916

Starts

BuilderStarts

1. Centex Homes307

2. DiVosta Building Corp.281

3. Lee Wetherington Homes Inc.271

4. Owner/Builder263

5. Windemere Homes Inc.251

6. U.S. Home Corp.,211

7. WCI Communities Inc.190

8. Walker Homes Inc.168

9. Waterford Construction Inc.154

10. K.M. Development Corp.141

11. Morrison Homes Inc.135

12. Lennar Homes Inc.131

13. Neal Communities124

14. First American Homes94

15. Gulfsteam Development Group92

16. The Ryland Group Inc.91

17. AllState Builders88

18. Adams Homes

of Northwest Florida Inc.86

19. Bruce Williams

General Contractors Inc.85

20. Westfield Homes

of Southwest Florida80

Permit Values

1. Centex Homes$52.9 million

2. Lee Wetherington

Homes Inc.$52.3 million

3. WCI Communities Inc.$47.3 million

4. Bruce Williams General

Contractors Inc.$41.9 million

5. Morrison Homes Inc.$33.5 million

6. K.M. Development Corp.$31.9 million

7. Owner/Builder$29.1 million

8. Windemere Homes Inc.$28.9 million

9. DiVosta Building Corp.$28.88 million

10. Waterford

Construction Inc.$27.2 million

11. U.S. Home Corp.$23.1 million

12. CED Construction

Partners$21.3 million

13. Walker Homes Inc.$20.1 million

14. Neal Communities$18.8 million

15. The Ryland Group Inc.$14.9 million

16. NDC Construction Co.$13.2 million

17. John Cannon Homes Inc.$13.1 million

18. M. Pete McNabb Inc.$12.3 million

19. J&J Homes Inc.$12.1 million

20. Gulfstream

Development Group$12.07 million

Pool

Starts

1. Elite Weiler Pools Inc.227

2. Splash Pools Inc. 201

3. Holiday Pools of West Florida Inc.172

4. Coast to Coast Pools Inc. 135

5. Superior Pools121

6. Pedrick Pools Inc.115

7. Blu Aqua Pool Corp.101

8. Water Designs of Sarasota Inc.68

9. Anchor Pools & Spas Inc.63

10. Custom Pools by Precision62

Values

SFR/ADuplexMFPoolComTotal

Anna Maria$320,000$135,807$28,000$483,807

Bradenton$5,117,989$1,004,427$684,700$29,700,281$491,971$13,888,079$50,887,447

Bradenton Beach$278,981$192,000$37,800$65,770$574,551

City of Sarasota$19,312,709$6,774,651$2,281,147$34,734,378$63,102,885

Holmes Beach$596,950$1,371,319$470,970$907,995$132,980$325,000$3,805,214

Longboat Key$9,463,311$2,970,849$184,000$461,186$422,575$13,501,921

Manatee$394,371,997$8,298,841$343,500$31,645,878$27,094,114$42,288,628$504,042,958

North Port$195,824,154$1,132,841$4,975,217$7,808,887$8,775,769$10,519,807$229,036,675

Palmetto$17,170,761$266,250$155,600$943,280$18,535,891

Sarasota County$195,113,132$15,078,072$12,105,868$49,336,708$15,261,869$121,143,811$408,039,460

Venice$49,090,957$2,480,660$2,007,473$29,624,561$5,024,495$9,882,344$98,110,490

Total$886,660,941$39,569,910$20,587,728$149,208,310$59,716,931$234,213,672$1,389,957,492

Pool

Permit Values

1. Elite Weiler Pools Inc.$5.9 million

2. Splash Pools Inc. $5.5 million

3. Pedrick Pools Inc.$5.1 million

4. Holiday Pools

of West Florida Inc.$4.3 million

5. Superior Pools$2.4 million

6. Anchor Pools & Spas Inc.$2 million

7. Blu Aqua Pool Corp.$1.97 million

8. Water Designs

of Sarasota Inc.$1.95 million

9. Elegant Waters Inc.$1.5 million

10. Coast to Coast Pools Inc.$1.3 million