Record-breaking year for housing construction
Yuma reports 601 new homes in 2020 despite COVId-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic might have wreaked havoc in most aspects of business, but it didn’t stop construction of new homes in the Yuma area.
Many people are moving to town, either for jobs or military assignments, and a shortage of rental housing is forcing many to buy instead. Developers can’t keep up. Subdivisions are popping up seemingly everywhere, and new homes are being snatched up quickly.
However, city officials hadn’t realized to what extent new homes were being built. That is, until the city’s Community Development Department started working on procedure updates and changes. It’s then that the department discovered a big surprise for 2020: a record-setting 601 permits for new homes.
“It was a heck of a year. Surprising, but very nice considering all we had going on,” said Randy Crist, interim director of community development.
The 601 new homes built in 2020 were an increase over the 534 new homes in 2019, confirming there was no slowdown in development and growth for Yuma during the past 24 months in spite of the historic headlines of 2020.
Residential home construction in the city last year was valued at $118.6 million. Combined with $49 million in commercial construction, the total project valuation was $167.6 million, making 2020 Yuma’s second highest year in total construction valuation in the history of the city. This compares with $143.8 million in total valuation in 2019.
These results came despite challenges presented by the