Going Up! Uninc. County sees rise in housing permits
BY ERIC PEREIRA
The housing market may soon get some more inventory within unincorporated Habersham County thanks to an increase in building permits issued.
According to a periodic report of issued permits for Habersham County, from Jan. 1 until June 7, there have been 58 building permits issued for single-family housing in the unincorporated community. Compared to 2018 at this time period, there were 45.
“It’s picked up a good bit,” said Habersham County Building Official David Turpin on issuing building permits. “A whole lot better than last year.”
The homes’ valuation to build for 2019 totaled $13,843,675.54.
There have been 16 mobile home permits issued until from the beginning of 2019 until June 7. There were 14 issued at this time last year, according to the report.
Similar to last year, the permits are being issued mostly to groups from Gainesville. Turpin said one of them is, Cook Residential, a home-building company in Gainesville, continues growth of Huntington Manor on Old Athens Highway outside of Cornelia.
Turpin confirmed that this would be the largest subdivision in the county with about 100 houses expected to be built. He said there are currently about 25 houses under construction. He also mentioned J.R. Biggers Construction of Gainesville has a total of 14 lots around the Old Athens Highway and Habersham Mills Road areas.
Other areas Turpin noticed that are issuing permit requests are near The Orchard Golf and Country Club and the Fairview community that is building a new subdivision.
“I would say because the economy is so good and now is the time to build,” Turpin said on why he thinks more permits are being issued.
With 2018 being a wet year for Habersham County, Turpin said this has “absolutely” delayed the construction of houses and mentioned that some would already have been completed.
Although the signs of more building permits is noticeable to some, Dale Holmes, broker for Headwaters Realty in Clarkesville, said the “demand remains strong for single-family homes in Habersham County.
“The most profound trend in home sales over the last year has been the increase in the average sales price of single-family homes,” he said. “For the first five months of 2019, the average sales price of homes was $213,000, which was a 12-percent increase over the same time period in 2018.”
Holmes added that the “days on the market” for homes have decreased overall for all price ranges, but “especially” for houses priced $150,000 and under, with the highest demand.
“We have around the same number of active listings now as we did last year, but the price points are higher,” Holmes said. “Housing affordability is definitely a growing challenge in Habersham County.”
