New housing starts in Bettendorf were up 8 percent in the third quarter compared with 2011, while new construction home sales for the Iowa Quad Cities jumped 20 percent compared with the third quarter last year.
That's according to statistics compiled by Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors of Bettendorf in its quarterly market update.
For the July, August and September timeframe this year, construction began on a total of 107 new homes in Bettendorf, compared with 99 for the three-month period in 2011, 89 in 2010 and 61 in 2009, Ruhl reported.
A total of 325 home starts were reported for the Iowa Quad Cities, including the 107 in Bettendorf, 92 in Davenport, 50 in rural Scott County, 39 in LeClaire/Princeton, 34 in Eldridge/Long Grove, and three new home starts in Blue Grass. That's up 27 percent, compared to the 256 home starts for the third quarter of 2011. In the Illinois Quad Cities region (which includes Geneseo and Whiteside County), housing starts totaled 101 in the third quarter this year, down five compared with the same quarter last year.
"Year-to-date sales results at the end of the third quarter clearly show we have started the long-awaited construction recovery," the Ruhl report said.
Another indicator of the strong new home construction in Bettendorf is the recent approval of subdivision plats for two new residential developments involving more than 100 residential lots.
The city's planning and zoning commission in October recommended approval of a rezoning and plat of 78 lots requested by Beaver Developers for 35 acres north of 53rd Avenue and west of Middle Road. The plat calls for 63 single-family homes and 15 single-family detached condominiums.
The other development by McCarthy Bush Development is phase two of ValleyWynds Addition, south of Forest Grove Road and west of Devils Glen Road. The plat recommended for approval by the commission last month includes 44 single-family lots and a future site for up to 14 condominiums.
