Permit Statistics

City of Sioux Falls Planning and Development Services
2021 Year-End Building Permits Report

January 10, 2022

The following are permit statistics for 2021 with comparison to previous years. We previously announced in late November 2021 that the City’s Building Services department had received $1 billion in building permits. The past year has been incredible and as you will see from the statistics below, records were set in many areas—not just in construction valuations but in other areas of residential construction to add more dwelling units to Sioux Falls.

Butch Warrington
Chief Building Official

Permits Issued

Last year, 7,246 building permits were issued in Sioux Falls, matching similar totals from the past five years. The year saw an increase of just 24 permits over 2020, accounting for a 0.33 percent increase.

The City saw a spike of building permits during 2014–15 because of a severe hail storm. For example, approximately 8,500 of the 14,945 permits filed in 2014 were for shingles.

Total Construction Valuation

The construction valuation in 2021 totaled $1,104,252,391, a new record for Sioux Falls. Considering the challenges with the increase in the cost of materials and a labor shortage in 2021, this speaks volumes for the City of Sioux Falls. 

• 20.1 percent increase from 2020 ($919,602,112)
• 43.1 percent increase from 2019 ($771,507,597)
• 40.4 percent increase from 2018 ($786,599,655)

Total construction valuation is defined as the quoted or calculated construction valuation for all commercial and residential new buildings, as well as additions, repairs, remodels, and renovations built within Sioux Falls. 

Residential

Single Family Dwellings

Sioux Falls added 850 new single-family dwellings in 2021, an increase of 108 new units compared to 2020. 

• 14.6 percent increase from 2020 (742 units)
• 33.9 percent increase from 2019 (635 units)
• 26.5 percent increase from 2018 (672 units)

The number of new single-family dwellings has increased dramatically in the past two years. Sioux Falls saw record years for dwelling construction during 2003–2005, when an average 1,043 single-family dwellings were built annually. But during that same time, the City saw only an average 175 townhomes built each year.   

In 2021, the dollar value for new single-family homes increased to $215,663,096, compared to 2020’s $174,468,796 (an increase of 23.61 percent). The average dollar value per home is $253,721, based on this valuation. The average square footage per home this year was 1,511 square feet, an increase from 2020’s 1,448 square feet and similar to 2019’s 1,500 square feet. 

Town Houses

Sioux Falls had 457 permits issued for town house units in 2021, which is a record-setting number over the 441 units built in 2017. 

The statistics show a leveling off in comparison to the previous years:

• 16.58 percent increase from 2020 (392 units issued)
• 25.90 percent increase from 2019 (363 units issued)
• 13.40 percent decrease from 2018 (403 units issued)

An average valuation for a town house in Sioux Falls is $183,838.95, while the average floor plan size increased in 2021 to 1,151.68 square feet from 1,099.75 square feet in 2020.

Multifamily

Multifamily housing includes nontransient housing such as apartments, independent living centers, congregate living facilities, and condominiums. The number of permits issued was significantly up again in 2021 with 1,821 dwelling units in multifamily buildings, making the previous year a record for this type of residential unit.

The statistics show that 2021 saw a significant increase this year after a very good year.  

• 15.91 percent increase from 2020 (1,571 units)
• 183.20 percent increase from 2019 (643 units issued)
• 92.70 percent increase from 2018 (945 units issued)

The following are the top 10 apartment building projects in value for 2020:

Cumulative Number of Dwelling Units

The total for 2021 was 3,132 dwelling units and represents a record year. This is quite amazing considering last year was a record year as well.

• 15.27 percent increase from 2020 (2,717 total dwelling units constructed)
• 90.74 percent increase from 2019 (1,642 total dwelling units constructed)
• 54.90 percent increase from 2018 (2,022 total dwelling units constructed)

The cumulative number of dwelling units consists of single-family dwellings, duplexes, town houses, and multifamily dwellings.

Commercial

There were 204 building permits issued for new commercial buildings, which consisted of 120 new apartment buildings and 84 permits for other new business construction. The total valuation for new commercial buildings in 2021 was $464.3 million, which was a decrease from 2020’s $488.4 million and an increase from the 2019’s $332.5 million.  

In 2021, commercial construction in Sioux Falls included: 

• $62.6 million for manufacturing
• $218.7 million for apartments
• $85.6 million for office, educational, and institutional occupancies
• $97.4 million for all other commercial buildings (e.g., strip malls, hotels, and restaurants)

The total construction valuation for commercial additions, renovations, and remodels in 2021 was $266 million which is an increase of $147.2 million from 2020.  

• 123.91 percent increase from 2020 ($118.8 million)
• 67.51 percent increase from 2019 ($158.8 million)
• 25.83 percent increase from 2018 ($211.4 million)

There were 44 commercial projects including apartments permitted in 2021 with a construction valuation of $3 million or more, with 18 projects exceeding $10 million and 9 projects with a construction valuation of $20 million or more. The top 15 commercial projects ranked by value are: