Iowa's Residential Housing Permits See Gain in 2012

Nearly 10,000 new permits were issued for residential housing in Iowa in 2012, an increase of more than 32% over 2011's total of 7,526. This marks the third consecutive increase in issued permits, with the most significant gain made from 2011 to 2012.
The permits were issued for construction of new single and multi-unit housing units. Single-unit housing accounts for an average of 77% of the total permits issued.
The total number of permits issued peaked in 2005 at 16,726 and in 2006 began to descend to a 2009 low of 7,130 (a 57.37% decline from 2005). In the same time period, employment in the construction sector dropped from 4.86% of total nonfarm employment in Iowa to 4.2% of total nonfarm employment. Currently, construction sector employment represents 4.48% of the total.