Feverish building activity cools down in July

Public Record, The, Aug 24, 2004 by Hercules, Neil

With only four of eight valley cities reporting gains in building activity from 2003 for the month of July, it appears that the hectic building pace might have slowed a little.

Total building permit valuations, however, were up by 2.96 percent, going from $148,010,604 in July 2003 to $151,049,388 last month.

Fueling the construction boom are single-family homes, of which 637 were permitted, with Desert Hot Springs leading all comers by issuing 163 permits for new homes. On the hot water city's heels was Indio with 162 home permits.

La Quinta took the top spot based on its strength in all building categories. The cove city bested Indio during July $36,631,969 to $28,958,569 - and is posting strong figures in commercial construction, with builders there having a heyday in Old Town La Quinta.

Rancho Mirage, which is experiencing heavier than usual home construction, permitted 79 homes at the highest amount per home of any of the other eight reporting valley cities: $281,775, compared to second-place Palm Desert at $259,699.