By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – With the average value of new homes being constructed in Alabaster steadily increasing, city leaders said the trend could be indicative of an overall rise in home values throughout the city.

During a Sept. 26 meeting, Alabaster City Council member Tommy Ryals provided an update from the Alabaster Fire Department’s Planning and Safety Division, which issues building permits for new homes and commercial buildings each month.

Through the end of August, the city had issued 77 new home building permits for projects valued at a total of more than $18.5 million.

The city issued eight new home building permits in August alone for projects valued at a total of nearly $2.2 million, meaning the average valuation of each new home is about $275,000.

“I want to point out that the average valuation is well over $200,000,” Ryals said. “I believe that’s an indicator that our home values are going up.”

The 77 new home building permits through the end of August matched the year-end total for new houses in 2014, and beat the year-end totals for 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Through the first eight months of last year, the city had issued 67 new home building permits for projects valued at a total of more than $17.8 million.

Residential remodeling permits are also up in valuation over last year. At the end of August, the city had issued 152 residential addition or remodel permits for projects valued at a total of about $5.2 million, compared to 159 permits for projects valued at about $1.6 million.

The commercial sector is still lagging behind last year’s numbers. Through the end of August, the city had issued nine permits for new commercial buildings valued at a total of about $5.2 million, compared with eight new commercial building permits last year for projects totaling more than $12.6 million.

In the commercial addition and remodel category, the city had issued 38 such permits through the end of August for projects totaling about $1.4 million, compared with 58 permits for projects valued at $3.8 million during the same time period last year.