Walker Boasts Banner Year for New Homes

LaFayette, GA – 2020 proved to be a banner year for new home construction in unincorporated Walker County. In fact, it was the best of the decade.

Data tracked by the Walker County Planning Office shows a 17% increase year over year in the number of permits issued for the construction of new single-family homes. Housing starts grew from 128 units in 2019 to 150 in 2020.

A majority of the growth occurred in unincorporated areas near Chickamauga, LaFayette and Flintstone-Chattanooga Valley. Homebuilders pulled 40 permits around Chickamauga, 36 permits outside of LaFayette and 27 permits just across the state border from Chattanooga, Tennessee in the Flintstone-Chattanooga Valley community.

The average size of new home construction in Walker County expanded 214 square feet last year to 2,514.

In addition, the average cost of construction rose to $211,753 per home, a $35,980 increase over 2019. Total valuation of all homes built in 2020 exceeded $31-million.

While the addition of 150 homes in 2020 outpaced recent historical data for Walker County, it may serve as the springboard for future growth. “It would not surprise me with some of the developments we have coming, including the one off Happy Valley Road, if we double that number in 2021,” said Shannon Whitfield, Chairman of the Walker County Board of Commissioners.

The county recently approved a planned unit development at the corner of Happy Valley Road and Battlefield Parkway. Design plans call for nearly 500 houses to be built on the 167-acre property over the next five to seven-years. The first phase of construction, which includes 55 units, is expected to begin this spring.