| Permit
Reports
Kansas City
Residential Construction Posts Strong
First Half of 2005
New-home construction
in metropolitan Kansas City finished
the first half of 2005 with the
fourth-best performance on record,
according to statistics compiled
by the Home Builders Association
of Greater Kansas City (HBA). A
total of 5,232 single-family building
permits were issued in the eight-county
region through June, just 9 percent
off the record pace established
last year and ranking slightly behind
the 5,305 permits issued in 1999
and 5,289 in 2003. |
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June
Permit Reports |
| Residential
Building Permit Statistics
- Excel
| PDF
Single-family
Detached Residential Building
Permits Report - Excel
| PDF
Permit information
is compiled by the Home Builders
Association
of Greater Kansas City. |
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The strong start to 2005
is consistent with industry expectations,
according to HBA Executive Vice President
Tim Underwood. Following a record year
for housing in 2004, local and national
forecasts called for a slim decline in
new-home production.
“The fundamentals
of the local housing market remain very
strong,” Underwood said. “Mortgage
rates continue to float near historic
lows and the economy is strong. The market
is there for new homes. The challenge
lies in providing the right housing choices
demanded by Kansas City’s families.”
A total of 824 single-family
building permits were issued in the metro
area last month, down from 1,081 issued
during June 2004. While Kansas City, Mo.,
remains the market leader with a 10 percent
gain in year-to-date activity, the area’s
largest housing market, Johnson County,
has seen a 20 percent decline in new-home
construction. Among the area’s top-ten
home-building communities, only Raymore
in Cass County has posted an increase
in construction permits.
Underwood said area new-home
inventories are above normal, which has
fueled some of the decrease in new construction
permits during late spring and early summer.
But he also said a lack of developed home
sites and rising construction costs have
posed challenges to local home builders.
“Infrastructure issues
have reduced the number of available home
sites in many communities and significantly
harmed affordability for many buyers,”
Underwood said. “As a region, we
need to address how we can expand housing
choices for more families while still
maintaining our high quality of life.”
Kansas
City, Mo., issued 935 single-family construction
permits in the first half of 2005. Olathe
ranked second with 468 permits, followed
by Lee’s Summit with 381 permits
and Overland Park with 286. Rounding out
the top 10 were Raymore, 269 permits;
Kansas City, Kan./Wyandotte County, 223;
Shawnee, 220; Independence, 206; Gardner,
186; and Lenexa, 151.
The
Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas
City (HBA) is the voice of the housing
industry and the source for housing information.
Comprising more than 1,000 member companies,
the HBA represents an industry that contributes
more than $2.5 billion to the Kansas City
economy and supports more than 36,000
jobs in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan
area.
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