Home building boosts Longview area economy

LONGVIEW – Home construction in Gregg, Rusk, Upshur and Harrison counties in 2011 had an estimated $41 million impact on the economy, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

As an industry, new home construction ranks as the eighth largest employment sources in the immediate Longview area. Single-family home construction resulted in 626 jobs in the past year with 433 positions directly on construction jobs and the remainder in wholesale and retail trades and professional services.

In 2011, 360 homes were permitted in the four-county area. Over a decade, those same 360 homes built will result in a $143 million local impact and another $24.5 million in taxes and will also be responsible for creating 1,690 jobs.

The local first year impact of those 360 homes is an estimated $38.82 million with another $1.948 million benefit in additional taxes spun off from that single-family home building activity.