Area sees June dip in residential building permits

Residential construction activity in central Indiana is ahead of last year’s pace through the first six months of the year, but month-to-month volatility continues to show the inconsistency in the new-home market.

Builders in the nine-county area filed 428 single-family construction permits in June, a 1-percent decline from the same month last year, according to the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis. That followed a strong May, in which permits outpaced the number filed in May 2011 by 20 percent.

Through June this year, building permits in the nine-county area totaled 2,023, an 8-percent increase from the same time last year. But home builders so far this year have yet to string together more than two consecutive months of positive building-permit activity.

Permit filings dropped this year in January and April, but were up strongly in February and March.

In Marion County last month, builders filed 72 permits, or 15 percent fewer than in June 2011.

Activity also fell in Hamilton County, where builders filed 147 permits in June, an 8-percent drop from the same month last year.

Hendricks County saw 66 permits filed last month, a 2-percent increase from June 2011. The most notable improvement was in Johnson County, where builders filed 62 permits, a 32-percent increase.

While home building is up in 2012, activity is far behind the pace set before the recession. Almost twice as many permits were filed in the first six months of 2007 compared with the same period this year.