Home construction rise in Hamilton County bucks area trend

The Indianapolis area continued to see a slump in residential construction last month despite a big jump in single-family building permits in Hamilton County.

Builders in the nine-county Indianapolis area filed 752 single-family building permits in May, down from 958 in the same month of 2022—a decline of 22%, according to the latest statistics from the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis.

Area filings have fallen on a year-over-year basis for the past 17 months and in 20 of the past 22 months.

Through the first five months of the year, area builders made 2,940 permit filings, down 29% from the same period of 2022.

Steve Lains, CEO of BAGI, said permit filings make up a lagging indicator for the residential market. He predicted high demand for new homes coupled with an overall shortage of available housing inventory would drive up permit numbers in the second half of the year.

County numbers

Only two of the area’s nine counties saw an increase in permit filings in May on a year-over-year basis: Hamilton and Boone.

– Hamilton County saw a 39% rise in single-family permits, with filings jumping from 242 in May 2022 to 337 in May 2023. On a year-to-date basis, filings are down 5% in the county compared with the first five months of 2022, from 1,235 to 1,172.

– Boone County filings rose 11%, from 64 to 71. The county had the same number of filings, 317, during the first five months of 2022 as it did so far this year.

– Marion County filings fell from 157 to 122 in May, a decrease of 22%. Filings are down 13% in the county on a year-to-date basis, from 567 to 492.

– Hendricks County’s permit numbers dropped 45%, from 162 to 89.

– Morgan County saw 24 permits last month, a decrease of 56%.

– Hancock County saw a 69% drop in filings, to 47.

– Johnson County experienced a 52% decrease in filings, to 41.

– Madison County filings dropped 48%, to 13.

– Shelby County filings fell from 16 to eight.