A central Indiana slowdown in home construction that began in late 2018 has continued into the new year, The Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI) reports.
There was a nine percent decline in building permits filed in the nine-county area from January 2019 the association reported. Builders filed 450 single-family construction permits this year, compared to 494 permits the previous January.
Permits also declined in December, ending 14-months increases.
In fact, 2018 was the busiest year for builders in more than a decade, but things slowed down in the final quarter, dropping one per cent from the same period in 2017.
“January’s permit numbers reflect the slowdown we began to see in the fourth quarter of 2018,” BAGI chief executive Steve Lains wrote, the Indianpolis Business Journal reported. “While there are some indications of improvement on the horizon, the market still remains soft and underserved based on the fundamentals of population and job growth.”
Here are detailed county numbers:
See the detailed BAGI permits report here
- Hamilton County: 161 permits in January, compared to 192 in January, 2018 (16 percent decline);
- Marion County: 98 permits, compared to 101 last year (3 percent decline);
- Johnson County: 60 permits, compared to 54 (11 percent increase);
- Hendricks County: 34 permits, compared to 67 permits in 2018 (49 percent decline);
- Hancock County: 37, compared to 38;
- Boone County: 21 compared to 28;
- Morgan County: 20 compared to 5;
- Madison County; 3 compared to 14; and
- Shelby County: 5 in both years.
