By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Through the end of November, Alabaster’s number of new homes was trending above the same time period in 2015, and was on track to top the year-end total for 2015, according to data recently released by the Alabaster Fire Department’s Planning and Safety Division.

In November 2016, the department six new home building permits for homes valued at a total of about $2.1 million. The six new homes in November brought the year-to-date total of new homes to 95 for projects valued at a total of $23.2 million.

By comparison, the city had issued 92 new home building permits during the first 11 months of 2015 for projects valued at a total of about $24.7 million.

The new home market has seen a steady increase over the last several years, as the city approved a total of 30 new home building permits in 2011, 57 in 2012, 61 in 2013, 77 in 2014 and 100 in 2015.

Alabaster’s number of new commercial buildings has also seen a slight increase over last year. Through the end of November 2016, the city had issued a total of 11 new commercial building permits for projects valued at a total of $5.4 million.

By comparison, the city had issued nine new commercial building permits for projects valued at a total of $13.5 million through the first 11 months of 2015.

In the addition and remodel sectors, Alabaster has seen an overall decrease from 2015.

At the end of November 2016, the department had issued 52 commercial addition or remodel permits for projects valued at a total of $3.9 million. The number was down from the 72 permits issued through November 2015 for projects valued at a total of $6.9 million.

Residential addition or remodel permits were also down from the 2015 numbers.

Through the end of November 2016, the department had issued 210 residential addition or remodel permits for projects valued at a total of $3.2 million. By comparison, Alabaster had issued 221 residential addition or remodel permits through the first 11 months of 2015 for projects valued at a total of $3.8 million.