Defying some expectations of how an economic slowdown and pandemic might halt a local growth trend, new home construction in multiple areas of Warren County is on pace to meet or exceed the numbers for previous years.

“We’re on pace this year to do over 80 new homes,” said city of Warrenton Building Commissioner Mike Cross, the city’s liaison to private home builders. 

“Last year we did 70 total all year. Right now we’re sitting at 73,” Cross added. He said that number only includes single family homes, and that multiple new apartment facilities are also being built in Warrenton.

Cross believes the drivers for home construction are the same factors pushing sales of existing homes, which The Record reported on last week.

“One, there’s a lot of people wanting to get away from the density of urban areas, and they’re looking to rural areas,” Cross said. “Two, (loan) interest rates are great right now.”

Cross said the bulk of current home construction is in the Warrior Ridge area to the southeast, with the Forest Ridge subdivision on Brune Parkway and Walnut Hollow off of Highway AA also seeing a lot of recent activity.

Cross commented that home building essentially saw no slowdown during the economic downturn spurred by COVID-19. He said the only big challenge for builders has been rising price of materials due to the active market.

Wright City Administrator Jim Schuchmann said he’s seen a similar trend, predicting Wright City would have just under 100 new homes this year. 

“As of today we have 82 (new home) permits,” Schuchmann said. “Really, that’s not too terribly far off (from last year). ... I would take that, if you told me that at the beginning of this year.”

Schuchmann said new home permits are down only slightly compared to the last few years, but not as much as the city feared at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Which was somewhat surprising to me,” Shuchmann commented. “Back at the beginning of the year, we thought everything would pretty much shut down.” But in actuality, he said it seems like people who were stuck at home decided they had time to go shopping for a new house.

Home construction in Wright City has mostly remained in growing subdivisions around town that have seen steady additions over the last few years, Schuchmann said. But as those are filling up, he said builders are already looking at new ground to start on.

The small communities of Truesdale and Innsbrook have also seen continued housing growth, with 15 and 12 new home permits, respectively, issued so far this year. That’s noticeable progress for communities with fewer than 1,000 residents.

In unincorporated Warren County, Planning Administrator Vickie Vohsen said 98 construction permits for single family residences have been issued to date this year.

“We’re right on pace with last year. They’re still building single family homes. I’m surprised, but it didn’t slow down at all,” Vohsen commented. Even when government offices were closed to in-person visitors for a month this spring, she said new permit applications were still being processed at the same rate.

Other than in one or two communities, Vohsen said homes in the unincorporated county are being built as standalone projects all over the area, rather than concentrated subdivisions. Most of the homes built outside of city limits are also built on larger acreage lots, she said.