By Tim Doran / The Bulletin
Applications to build single-family homes in Bend have increased about 45 percent so far this year over the same period in 2010.
While the number of home-building permits sought for the first 3½ months of the year falls far short of comparable periods during the real-estate boom, it’s enough to prompt city employees to work overtime to process them, said Mel Oberst, community development director.
“Yes, we’re seeing a trend,” he said, “and that trend is upward.”
Deschutes County also has seen an uptick in permit requests for the first three months of the year compared with last year, said Tom Anderson, Deschutes County community development director. And so far, 2011 looks to be better than the previous two years.
The city of Bend took in about 100 requests to build single-family dwellings between Jan. 1 and April 15, according to online permit statistics. In 2010, it received 69 in the same period.
For the first four months of each year from 2007-09, Bend recorded 287, 98 and 43 permits, respectively, according to The Bulletin’s archives.