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Permit Reports
Kansas City
Housing Permits Near Record Levels
in July
Kansas City construction
activity once again approached
near record levels for single-family
housing permits in July, with local
home builders pulling 1,107 permits
across the eight-county metropolitan
area, according to statistics compiled
by the Home Builders Association
of Greater Kansas City (HBA). That
total marks the second highest
number of permits issued in a single
month on record in the metropolitan
area, topping the 1,052 single-family
new home permits issued in June
and falling just short of the record
1,167 permits issued in March 1999.
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July
Permit Reports
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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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Permit activity
was up 33 percent last month compared
to July 2002 when 832
permits were issued. A total of 6,384
single-family permits have been issued
year-to-date, an 11 percent increase
from the 5,742 permits issued in the
first seven months of 2002. Local new
home permit activity is on pace for
more than 11,000 permits, which would
establish
a new mark for most permits issued
in a single year. A record 10,285 single-family
new home permits were issued in 1999.
The
strength of the new home construction
markets locally and nationwide comes
at a time when mortgage rates are on
the increase from historic low levels.
Still, the rise in new home sales and
construction activity is not a surprise,
according to the HBA Executive Vice
President Tim Underwood.
“Despite the recent rise, mortgage
rates remain very favorable for new home
buyers,” Underwood said. “With
the economy showing signs of improvement,
it is unlikely there will be another
drop in rates. As a result, many new
home buyers will be motivated to buy
now and lock in at what are still historically
low mortgage rates. By taking advantage
of low rates now, many families can still
afford to buy their first home or even
buy a larger home than they will be able
to when rates are higher.”
Gains
in new home construction have been
posted across the metropolitan area
with the largest increases in Wyandotte
County (up 49 percent), Cass County
(up 37 percent) and Clay County (up 31
percent).
Kansas City, Mo., has posted the most
significant increase among local cities
with a 39 percent jump from last year.
The city leads the metropolitan area
in single-family new home permits with
1,143 issued through July.
Olathe ranks
second with 671 permits, followed by
Lee’s Summit with 500
and Overland Park with 493.
Rounding out
the top10 permitting cities through
July are Shawnee, 356; Raymore,
269; Grain Valley, 231; Kansas City,
Kan./Wyandotte County, 224; Independence,
215; and Lenexa, 190.
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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