Single-family home building permits in Rhode Island increased by 12 percent during the first six months of 2004 compared to the first half of 2003, but remain below performance levels of recent years, according to a report from the Rhode Island Builders Association (RIBA).
The report says building permits in Rhode Island cities and towns totaled 961 at the end of the second quarter of 2004, compared to 857 in 2003. Except for last year, that’s the lowest new home-building level in 15 years and “well below demand levels,” RIBA said.
“If housing demand continues to outstrip supply, it will hurt the Rhode Island economy,” said RIBA executive director Roger Warren. “Our core workforce is being dislocated and companies cannot expand or relocate in a state that doesn’t have an adequate supply of affordable housing for its workers.”
In the first half of 2004 the median price for a single-family home in Rhode Island rose to $250,000. This is nearly 14 percent over the median price in January 2004 and an increase of over 98 percent since 1999, when it was $126,000. The median sales price in Rhode Island is increasing at two and a half times the national rate, RIBA said.
Warren cited land restrictions by cities and towns as a major contributor to inflated housing prices. “Building permit moratoriums, unrealistic impact fees, and unnecessary zoning requirements artificially restrict economic growth and are pushing home ownership out of reach for more and more working Rhode Islanders,” he said.
Four communities showed a significant decrease in permits in the second quarter of 2004: Bristol, North Providence, Warren and West Greenwich. Towns showing major increases include Barrington, Exeter, Foster, Middletown, North Smithfield, Pawtucket and Tiverton.
The Rhode Island Builders Association, a nonprofit founded in 1945, has 1,400 member companies in Rhode Island, residential rebuilders and remodelers.
