New Home Construction In Idaho Falls Up Almost Double Over 2011

As the weather warms, backhoes, front loaders, and the rest of the heavy machinery family start to show up around eastern Idaho.

In fact, new home construction numbers are way up in Idaho Falls.

“I think a lot of people are tired of the bad economy and are trying to make some improvements,” said Idaho Falls Building Permit Technician Ken Hartog.

All over Idaho Falls, he said, there are more and more houses being built.

“The weather I think has been nice too, we’ve had a good winter and spring so far and I think it’s encouraging people to get out and do something,” he said.

In 2012, said Hartog, folks are getting out a lot. In 2010, 15 new homes went up between January and March. Even less homes were built in 2011, with just 12 new construction homes erected from January to March of that year.

“This year so far we’ve had 20 new homes being built in Idaho Falls,” he said.

New home construction sites like one on Pevero Drive in Idaho Falls mean quite a few different things. On a small scale, at the very least, it means job security for contractors and construction workers. On a bigger scale, perhaps more people are finding more confidence in the economy. A kind of hope, said Hartog.

“A hope for things improving economically in the area,” he said. “I think they’re trying to put a little more effort into improving the economy.”

Our station tried to speak with contractors at 3 different new home construction sites on Monday. Every single foreman said he was just too busy to talk. Busy construction sites may serve as just another physical example of increased economic growth.

Nationwide, the US Census Bureau said new construction starts came in at an annual rate of 699,000 in January. That’s up 10-percent over 2011.