A Census Bureau report has revealed that new, private, residential building permits in the Pittsburgh region totaled 3,717 in 2012—800 more than in 2011, or an increase of 20%.
Doug Heuck, Director of PittsburghTODAY in Pitt’s University Center for Social and Urban Research, says the numbers are a good sign that housing activity, one of the most important sectors of the regional economy, is picking up.
The data compare greater Pittsburgh with 14 other benchmark regions, eleven of which saw building permit increases in 2012. Heuck said, "We're basically on kind of a similar trend to the benchmark average. Most of the benchmark regions saw a tremendous decline in building permits as the troubles in the housing market accelerated. Pittsburgh's decline was much less steep."
A comparison by county in the Pittsburgh region showed most new construction increases in Allegheny (31%), Beaver (29%), Butler (20%), Indiana (255%!), Washington (31%) and Westmoreland (28%) counties.
