Central Indiana homebuilders close out big year with strong December

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Central Indiana residential builders saw a surge in demand for new homes as 2024 came to a conclusion, making the year one of the strongest the industry has seen over the past two decades.

Builders filed 666 single-family building permits in the nine-county area in December, an increase of 25% compared with the same month of 2023, according to the latest statistics from the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis, or BAGI.

Permit filings have risen on a year-over-year basis for 18 straight months.

For the full year, 10,044 permits were filed in central Indiana, a 26% increase over the 7,959 permits that were filed in 2023.

The full-year total was the largest since 2021, when 10,430 permits were filed as buyers who had been sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic returned to the market.

Last year and 2021 marked the only two years since the Great Recession to see more than 10,000 permits filed in central Indiana. That annual milestone was topped every year from 2000 to 2005, with filings exceeding 15,000 in 2001.

“The year’s remarkable growth in home construction permits reflects the confidence that buyers and builders alike have in central Indiana’s housing market,” said Christian Rector, who became president of BAGI this month. “While limited inventory and other challenges remain, the sustained demand for housing presents an exciting opportunity to innovate and expand our capacity to deliver homes that meet the needs of our growing communities.”

Marion County saw a 34% increase in permit filings in 2024 compared with the previous year, to 1,893.

December 2024 single-family building permits filings by county and year-over-year increase:

Hamilton: 229 (+75%)

Boone: 38 (-69%)

Marion: 112 (+35%)

Johnson: 89 (+37%)

Hancock: 74 (+23%)

Hendricks: 61 (+91%)

Morgan 31 (+55%)

Madison: 21 (+17%)

Shelby: 11 (+267%)

2024 full-year single-family building permits filings by county and year-over-year increase:

Hamilton: 3,014 (+11%)

Marion: 1,893 (+34%)

Hendricks: 1,297 (+31%)

Boone: 912 (+6%)

Johnson: 1,085 (+82%)

Hancock: 997 (+79%)

Madison: 405 (-13%)

Morgan 319 (+9%)

Shelby: 122 (+69%)

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