2018 Year-End Building Permits Report

Permits Issued

There were 6,873 permits issued in 2018. The total number of building permits has been reduced significantly from the 2014 and 2015 levels when a severe hail storm hit the city of Sioux Falls. The 2014 hail storm resulted in the issuance of 8,500 reshingle permits in 2014 and 5,800 reshingle permits in 2015. Reshingle permits have leveled off, however in October of 2018 it was noticed that a rise in shingle permits were issued because of the hail storm that hit the western side of Sioux Falls the end of August 2018.

Total Construction Valuation

Total construction valuation is defined as the quoted or calculated construction valuation for all commercial and residential new buildings, additions, repairs, remodels, and renovations built within the city of Sioux Falls. For the sixth year in a row, a record construction valuation for issued permits occurred. The construction valuation in 2018 totaled $786,599,655, which is an increase of 6.39 percent from the previous construction valuation of $739,324,818 in 2017. For reference, the 2018 construction valuation is an increase of 12.07 percent from the record construction value of $701,851,489 in 2016 and an increase of 16.31 percent from the record construction value of $676,292,291 in 2015.

Residential

Single Family Dwellings

There were 672 new single family dwellings permitted in 2018, which is a decrease of approximately 10.4 percent as compared to the 750 new single family dwellings permitted in 2017, a decrease of 3.31 percent compared to the 695 new single-family dwellings in 2016, and an increase of 1.36 percent compared to the 663 new single family dwellings permitted in 2015. The number of new single family dwellings appears to be leveling out. It is in excess of those numbers in the recession years of 2008 through 2011, however it falls short of the most robust years 2000 to 2007, which averaged 974 dwelling units per year for the homebuilding industry in the city of Sioux Falls. The number of single family dwellings decreased in 2018 by 78; however, the dollar value for those single family dwellings was greater than it was in 2017.

Town Houses

Town houses are defined as owner-occupied, single family dwellings in which each unit extends from the foundation to the roof and has a yard or public space on at least two sides. 2018 saw a total of 403 town house dwelling units permitted, which is a decrease of 8.62 percent compared to the 441 townhouse dwelling units permitted in 2017, an increase of 13.52 percent of 355 townhouse dwelling units permitted in 2016, and an increase of 49.81 percent of 269 townhouse dwelling units permitted in 2015.

Multifamily

Multifamily housing includes non-transient housing such as apartments, independent living centers, congregate living facilities, etc. The number of multifamily dwelling units (apartments) was down in 2018 to 945 new dwelling units, a decrease of 22.22 percent compared to 1,215 new dwelling units issued in 2017.This a decrease of 40.53 percent from the record 1,589 multifamily dwelling units issued in 2016. The number of multifamily dwelling units this year surpassed the 804 multifamily dwelling units issued in 2015 by 17.54 percent; a decrease of 11.6 percent of the 1,069 multifamily dwelling permitted in 2014. The statistics would show a decrease this past year in comparison to previous years; however the prior six years had seen very strong numbers of new multifamily dwelling units permitted and constructed for the city of Sioux Falls compared to the years before that.

The following are the top 10 apartment building projects in value for 2018:

Cumulative Number of Dwelling Units

The cumulative number of dwelling units consists of single family dwellings, duplexes, town houses, and apartments. The total for 2018 was 2,022 dwelling units. This is down from 2017 by 16.10 percent which had a total of 2,410 units constructed and down 23.61 percent from the record of 2,647 dwelling units in 2016. The number of dwelling units this year surpassed the 1,738 cumulative number of dwelling units issued in 2015 by 16.34 percent and an increase of 6.09 percent of the 1,906 dwelling units permitted in 2014.

Commercial

In 2018, there were 128 building permits issued for new commercial buildings, which consisted of 45 new apartment buildings and 83 building permits issued for all other new commercial buildings. The total construction valuation for new commercial buildings in 2018 was $302.2 million. The construction valuation for new commercial buildings in 2017 was $268.9 million. For 2018, the new commercial buildings included $92.6 million for apartments, $19.2 million for manufacturing, $93.7 million for office, educational, and institutional occupancies, and $96.7 million for all other commercial buildings.

The total construction valuation for commercial additions, renovations, and remodels increased in 2018 to a total valuation of $211.4 million, which is a 7.8 percent increase from the 2017 valuation of $196.1 million, an increase of 37.63 percent from the $153.6 million permitted in 2016, and an increase of 24.06 percent from the $170.4 million permitted in 2015.

There were 74 commercial projects including apartments permitted in 2018 with a construction valuation of $1,000,000 or more, with 12 projects exceeding $10 million and 4 projects with a construction valuation of $20 million or more. The following are the top 15 projects in value for 2018: