Year-To-Date Home Building Activity Rises Almost 30 Percent (Jun. 2016)

Home builders in the Kansas City region continued their brisk pace of single-family home construction in the first half of 2016, with 2,793 permits issued from January to June, up 29 percent over the first six months of 2015. The data reflects the busiest first six months of the year for homebuilders since before the housing downturn, according to the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City’s monthly Residential Building Permit Statistics report.

“The first two quarters of 2016 have exceeded expectations for permit activity,” said HBA Executive Vice President Sara Corless. “Builders are feeling confident as they work to increase inventory levels for new home buyers. We continue to see an uptick in current home owners making that step up into the new home market.”

The most recent permit report reflects growth in all eight metro-area counties for the first half of the year. Counties with the largest increase in permits issued are Cass County, up 81 percent; Clay County, up 50 percent; Wyandotte County, up 39, Miami County, up 39 percent; Platte County, up 34 percent; Johnson County, up 21 percent; Leavenworth County up 19 percent, and Jackson County up 3 percent.

Multi-family construction is also showing signs of strength at the mid-year point. Construction activity from January to June rose 37 percent with 1,897 units, compared with 1,389 units for the first six months of 2015.

In the month of June, single-family permit activity rose to its highest monthly level since October 2007 with 571 permits issued, up 30 percent over June 2015 and the best June since 2007.