Area homebuilders see 8th straight month of falling permits

Filings for new home construction continued to slow last month, according to the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis.

Builders in the nine-county Indianapolis area filed 603 single-family building permits in August, down 20% from the same month of 2021. Permit filings have fallen on a year-over-year basis for the past eight months and in 11 of the past 13 months.

Builders filed 6,260 permits during the first eight months of the year, a 14% decrease from the same period a year ago.

Rising mortgage rates, supply-chain issues, increasing costs and limited lot availability are hampering the market, according to industry experts.

County numbers:

• Marion County saw 101 single-family building permit filings in August, a year-over-year decline of 34%. Filings in the county are still up 3% for the year, to 962.
• Hamilton County, typically the busiest area county for home construction, saw filings sink 3% in August, from 202 to 196. Year-to-date filings are down 23% in the county.
• Hendricks County’s numbers fell 67% last month, to 37.
• Hancock County saw August permits decline 37%, to 57.
• Johnson County experienced a 13% decline in filings last month, to 58.
• Filings fell 33% in Boone County last month, to 40.
• Madison County filings were up 110%, to 65.
• Morgan County filings ticked up from 18 to 21.
• Shelby County filings rose from 25 to 28.