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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indianapolis metropolitan area last month posted its first increase in building permits this year, a sign that local home construction may be starting to pick up.
In the nine-county area, the number of building permits filed in April climbed to 361, an increase of 10 percent from the same month in 2010, according to the latest permit data from the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis.
The increase marks just the second year-over-year increase in permit filings since generous federal tax credits helped spur home construction early last year.
In November, the number of building permits filed increased 16 percent from the same time in 2009.
Home-building activity in April ticked up in both Hamilton (36 percent) and Hendricks (28 percent) counties, but declined in Marion (14 percent) and Johnson (18 percent) counties.
The 151 permits filed in Hamilton County in April were the most of any county in the metropolitan area. Sixty were filed in Marion County last month.
The 361 permits filed in April fell shy of the 372 filed in March. But the amount was still much higher than the 201 filed in February and the 198 in January.
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