Residential Permitting Activity Decreases in Metro Area (May 2019)
In May, 391 single-family permits were issued for a total of 1,633 single-family permits year-to-date in 2019, according to the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City’s (HBA) monthly Residential Building Permit Statistics report. Single-family permitting continues to lag behind 2018, which had 598 single-family permits issued in May 2018 and a total of 2,637 single-family permits issued at this time in 2018.
Click here for the May 2019 Residential Statistics Permit report.
Every county in the metro area has shown a decrease during 2019, leading to an average decline of 38 percent compared to 2018. The decrease in permit activity is partially attributable to a cold, snowy winter, which was followed by the wettest spring on record. Permit activity in early 2018 was especially active in developments featuring duplex, tri-plex and four-plex structures. These communities have seen only limited new permits pulled in 2019.
“Single-family housing starts are down about 12 percent in the Midwest so we are not the only ones experiencing this,” said HBA Executive Vice President Will Ruder. “While Mother Nature has been less than cooperative, the members of the HBA are seeing increasing signs of improvement in the market. A favorable interest rate environment coupled with some important economic development wins for the Kansas City region boosts our confidence that the second half of 2019 will be better than the first.”
A 248-unit multi-family development was permitted in Overland Park during May, bringing the year to date total to 1,094 units during 2019, compared to 494 units in the first five months of 2018.
On a year to date basis, Kansas City remains the most active city with 265 permits issued in the counties of Clay, Platte and Jackson. The top five list is rounded out with Olathe (175 permits), Lee’s Summit (153), Overland Park (114) and Blue Springs with 94.