BAGI Sees 6 Percent Increase in Central Indiana Building Permits Over Last Year

INDIANAPOLIS (August 17, 2023) – The Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI) has released its July permit breakdown, which illustrates the rebound in consumer homebuilding interest as Central Indiana saw a six percent increase in permits issues compared to this time last year.

The association’s report also includes a correction from June’s permit file, which previously showed an overall two percent decrease across the nine-county area, but now shows permit numbers had a zero percent change from June 2022.

“The increase in permit activity aligns with the strong market activity seen at the beginning of the year,” BAGI CEO Steve Lains explained.

“As the demand for homes has continued to surpass available supply, we have seen steady levels of sales and interest in homebuilding since the end of last year,” Lains said. “Our association believes we will see a continued uptick in single family building permits issued through the rest of 2023.”

Hamilton, Hendricks, Madison, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby County all saw positive permit growth over 2022, with Hendricks County seeing an incredible 155% increase of 112 permits issued in July compared to 44 issued at the same time last year.

The positive homebuilding activity can be seen outside of the Hoosier state. In fact, according to a recent Reuters report, the Midwest saw a 12% increase in new single-family home starts last month and the Western states saw a 28.5% increase.

“Interest rates and their impact on consumer activity have been outweighed by the growing demand for homes with dwindling existing home inventory. Our local industry professionals believe this strong activity will continue to build a busy, healthy new construction market for the foreseeable future.”