Statewide Building Permits Surge

The Indiana Builders Association says single-family building permits in March rose 52 percent over the previous month. President Pat Richard says the surge is no surprise as builders are ramping up production to meet the growing demand for homeownership.

The IBA says 1,537 permits were issued last month, which is also an 8 percent increase from March 2017. Year-to-date, the number of building permits is up 6 percent over the same period last year.

"It is projected that the housing market remain favorable throughout 2018 as economic development and employee wages continue to increase in many parts of the state" said IBA Chief Executive Officer Rick Wajda. "As we continue to fight for housing affordability and safety, builder confidence in the marketplace will equally fall in line with the spur of single-family housing demand."

Last month, the IBA, along with the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis and the Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation, launched a partnership aimed at growing the building and construction workforce. The IBA says Indiana currently has an average of more than 3,000 annual job openings in construction and similar fields.