Two-story homes with solar panels in the Shannon Ranch development in Visalia. Photo contributed

New home builders took out permits for just 270 single family homes this past year in Visalia, the slowest pace in more than a decade.

In the most recent 25-year span, Visalia homebuilders averaged as much as 900 homes per year from 2000 to 2009 and about 440 single-family home permits from 2010 to 2019. Permits are down 19% from 2023 when 335 new home permits were issued.

A slowdown has been seen as interest rates have climbed since 2021, affecting both builders and buyers. Mortgage rates averaged 3.11% in December 2021, compared to 7% last month.

Even with the slowdown, a slew of big subdivisions projects are poised to break ground around the city based on approved annexations in all quadrants of town. There is strong competition between big national builders including D.R. Horton and Lennar, and local builders such as San Joaquin Valley homes and. West Star Construction. All are ready to offer new product this year.

If things were slow in the single-family category, builders were busy permitting multi-family units in Visalia with 327 units valued at more than $60 million issued. That added up to the largest square footage of multi-family in a decade at 304,000 square feet.

It was also a slow year for new commercial activity in Visalia. New commercial buildings added up to just 336,600 square feet in 2024, far lower than the average pace for the past five years of between 1.5 to 2.5 million square feet a year.

Big commercial projects are ready to break ground in 2025, including the new Costco and Sam’s Club retail projects on the north and south side of the city.