Area homebuilders see 8th straight month of falling permits

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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.