MEDINA – The Medina County Building Department issued 20 building permits for new homes in January.

The number is down slightly from the 22 issued in January 2016, but more than the county has issued in January in most years during the previous decade.

The county issued 430 new home permits in 2016, the most in one year since 2007. Whether 2016 will match those numbers remains to be seen but Rob Henwood, the director of Medina County Planning Services, thinks early signs point to another good year for area home builders.

Henwood told county commissioners last month that the Medina County Planning Commission has seen a recent increase in the number of new subdivision plans submitted to his department for review. He said six new subdivisions were submitted to the planning commission last year. As a result, planning commissioners approved 347 new lots last year and 32 in the first two months of this year.

New home construction is not limited to the county’s township and villages. Brunswick and Wadsworth have their own building departments and have been seeing a steady flow of applications for permits to build new homes. Wadsworth issued five permits for new homes in January. Brunswick issued just one in January but had issued 109 in 2016.

Nearly half the new home permits issued by the county in January were for homes planned in Montville Township. Nine of the 20 permits issued by the county were for houses planned in Montville. The county also issued three permits for homes planned in both York and Sharon townships.

Chief Building Inspector Charles Huber estimates the average construction cost is about $305,000 for the 20 new homes getting permits in January. The average cost for the 430 homes built last year was about $308,000.

The county also issued building permits for 13 commercial projects in January. Their combined construction cost is estimated at about $2.7 million, which is a 270 percent increase compared to January 2016.

However, the value of the residential building permits ($6.6 million) issued by the county in January was more than twice the value of those commercial construction projects.

The biggest commercial project issued a building permit in January is a $1.3 million addition planned for Bethel Church in Brunswick Hills Township.

Other significant commercial projects issued building permits in January are a $644,000 renovation of an existing building in Medina to house a hub for Akron Children’s Hospital and a $400,000 renovation of a Wadsworth retail building to house No. 1 Kitchens on the first floor and apartments on the second floor.