Township moves into top spot for single-family home permits

Home construction in Austintown has slowed down.
Canfield Township is expected this year to put an end to Austintown's 10-year run as the top community for single-family home construction in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
So far, Canfield has issued 82 permits for single-family home construction, while Austintown has issued 55. Austintown has led Mahoning and Trumbull counties in the number of permits issued for single-family home construction in each of the last 10 years.
Last year, Canfield Township issued 64 permits for single-family home construction, while in 2002 it issued 84 permits, its highest total ever.
The average value of the single-family home construction projects that have received permits in Canfield Township this year is about $260,000.
"I guess its just a desirable area," said Canfield Township Zoning Inspector Dave Morrison. "It's kind of been the trend in the last six or eight years. We've had quite a growth spurt."
Austintown numbers
The number of permits for single-family homes in Austintown, meanwhile, has been slowly decreasing in the last few years. Austintown issued 187 permits for single-family homes in 1993, and then averaged about 110 permits each year between 1994 and 2001, township zoning inspector Michael Kurilla Jr. said.
In 2002, Austintown issued 97 permits for single-family homes; last year, that number was 94.
"Ten years is a long time to sustain that position" as the top community for single-family home construction in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, Kurilla said. He said Boardman held the top spot in the two counties for 10 years before Austintown began to boom.
Kurilla said the total value of the residential and commercial construction projects that have received permits in Austintown so far this year is about $20.1 million. That figure was about $16.9 million for all of last year.
The total value of the residential and commercial construction projects that have received permits in Canfield Township so far this year is about $22.8 million, Morrison said. That figure was $20 million for all of last year.