By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The city is on track to see another year of growth in its total number of new homes, while the value of commercial projects is lagging slightly behind, according to the Alabaster Fire Department’s Planning and Safety Division.

According to the division, the department had issued 85 new home building permits through the end of September for homes valued at a total of about $20.2 million.

By comparison, the city issued 82 new home building permits during the first nine months of 2015 for homes valued at a total of about $21.4 million.

So far this year, the city’s new home market has already topped the year-end totals for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and is on track to top the 100 total new home permits the city issued last year.

“We are on track again to beat last year’s numbers, and the home values are holding at about $200,000,” said Ward 7 Councilman Tommy Ryals. “That’s obvious, since the Planning and Zoning agendas are getting busier.”

The residential addition and remodel numbers were slightly down from last year at the end of September, according to the report.

Year-to-date through Sept. 30, the city had issued 172 residential addition or remodel permits for projects valued at a total of about $3 million. Through the first nine months of 2015, the city had issued 177 residential addition or remodel permits for projects valued at a total of $3.1 million.

In the commercial sector, the number of new building permit numbers were up, while addition or remodel permits were down from last year’s numbers.

At the end of September this year, the city had issued 11 new commercial building permits for projects valued at about $5.4 million, compared to nine new commercial building permits for projects valued at a total of about $13.5 million during the same time period last year.

In the commercial addition or remodel category, the city had issued 44 permits for renovations valued at a total of $1.8 million through the end of September, compared to 67 such permits for projects valued at $4.2 million through the first nine months of 2015.