By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster’s number of new homes so far this year has already matched or exceeded the year-end totals from 2011 and 2012, and is on track to be the highest number the city has seen in several years.

According to the Alabaster Fire Department’s Planning and Safety Division, the city issued permits for 10 new homes in June, bringing the year-to-date total to 57 new homes through the first six months of the year.

The 10 new home permits the city issued in June were for projects valued at a total of more than $2.7 million. The 57 new home permits issued so far this year represent projects totaling more than $14.1 million.

By comparison, the city had issued a total of 46 new home permits through the first six months of 2015 for projects totaling about $12.2 million. The city issued a total of 30 new home building permits in all of 2011 and issued 57 new home permits in 2012.

The city’s number of residential addition and remodel permits are slightly down from last year, but the project valuation has increased over 2015.

Through the end of June this year, the city had issued a total of 99 residential addition and remodel permits for projects valued at a total of nearly $1.9 million. In comparison, the city had issued 127 residential addition and remodel permits through the first six months of 2015 for projects valued at a total of $1.16 million.

In the commercial sector, the city is still lagging behind last year’s numbers, but is starting to catch up.

Through the end of June this year, the Planning and Safety Division had issued seven new commercial building permits for projects valued at a total of about $4.4 million. Through the first six months of last year, the city had issued eight new commercial building permits for projects valued at a total of more than $12.6 million.

Commercial addition and remodel permits are also lower than they were last year.

Through June 30 of this year, the city had issued 29 commercial addition and remodel permits for projects valued at a total of $906,833, compared to last year’s 43 commercial addition and remodel permits for projects valued at a total of about $3 million.