The United States Census Bureau has released data on Indiana home building in the first month of 2018, indicating a small decrease for single-family construction starts for January.
Single-family permits have declined 10% from December 2017 when 948 permits were pulled. There were 858 permits pulled in January of 2018, a 1% decrease from January of 2017 when 868 permits were pulled.
“Although this month’s data indicates just a small decrease in new construction, a larger issue faces the building industry,” Indiana Builders Association (IBA) president Pat Richard said in a statement. “The search for skilled-labor is a critical challenge we are hoping to overcome in the coming years as lawmakers and industry professionals make efforts to grow a highly-skilled and technical workforce.”
Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes remains steady in January at 72, on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.
“The housing outlook for 2018 is promising given increased economic development and competitive mortgage interest rates” said IBA chief executive officer Rick Wajda. “However, with housing inventory tight for the year, builders are faced with the challenge of making supply meet increased demand.”
