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Building activity in Teton County has inched up during the last year, buoyed largely by a surge in new single-family homes.

Between February 2012 and January, county building staffers issued a total of 216 permits for new construction. That compares to 209 during the preceding 12 months.

Of those permits, 68 have been for new construction this year — a significant spike from the previous 12 months, when building officials issued 56 permits for new single-family homes.

However, there were slight decreases in every other category of building permits issued by county staff over the past year. The estimated value of the work that was permitted also fell.

Building department officials had not yet compiled statistics for February.

The value of the commercial work that was permitted over the last 12 months fell far below the projects that were permitted in the previous year.

Between February 2012 and January, building staffers estimated they approved $2.8 million in commercial construction. The year before, they permitted an estimated $3.8 million.

Residential construction also fell during that time period. Over the course of the last year, county staffers estimate they issued permits for $103.3 million in residential work. In the preceding 12 months of 2011 and 2012, they estimate they issued permits for $133.1 million in residential projects.

County building officials’ counterparts at the town issued fewer total permits in 2012, compared to the previous year, but they approved double the number of permits for new, single-family homes.

During the first two months of the year, town staffers issued 11 permits, compared with five during the same two months in 2012.

The estimated value for the permitted work also jumped, increasing to $6.3 million from $792,000 in 2012. Nearly two-thirds of that — $4 million — came from a permit submitted in January by Snow King Resort. As part of a $20 million upgrade of the hotel, the resort’s new owners plan to update every room, redesign the restaurant and refurbish the main plaza.

The total number of permits issued in town dropped from 121 in 2011 to 115 in 2012, but new construction increased last year. Developers working on 16 new, single-family homes received permits, compared to eight the year before.

In the county, staffers last month issued permits for several large residential projects, including a new four-bedroom home, another one-bedroom house and a gazebo in the Three Creek subdivision. The construction had an estimated value of nearly $3.2 million.

Staffers also issued a permit for an estimated $1.5 million remodel of a home north of the Jackson Hole Airport.

Another permit was issued last month for a demolition project and new, three-bedroom home. The project is estimated to be worth $2.1 million.