Building permits up 20% last month for city, county

Building permits in Huntsville and Madison County increased in January by 20 percent over the previous month, but dropped 6.7 percent from the same month last year.

The Huntsville/Madison County Builders Association and Southern Exposure Information reported 140 permits for single-family homes were granted in January, compared with 116 permits in December and 150 in January 2008.

The December-to-January increase reflects typical seasonal fluctuations in construction, said Mark Harris, president of the Builders Association.

"December's always a quiet month," Harris said. "Not as many people are buying new homes."

Statewide, single-family permits plunged 50.6 percent in January from the year-ago period, and were down 2.8 percent from December, according to the Alabama Center for Real Estate Research. Nationally, permits hit a record low in January, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, compared with 530,000 units economists expected, the Commerce Department reported earlier this week. The 16.8 percent nationwide drop was the slowest pace on record in 50 years.