The number of permits pulled for new single-family homes continued to soar in November, making up for the slow spring and bringing the total number of single-family permits for the year into the positive growth column. There were 701 permits pulled for single-family homes this month, an increase of 8% over November of last year. This pushed the year-to-date single-family permits up to 5,758 from January to November 2020, which is now at a 1% increase over 2019.
Multifamily construction had a strong month in November as well, with permits pulled for 857 units, an increase of 24% over November of last year. Multifamily construction still sits in negative territory for the year with permits pulled for 7,168 units year-to-date, a drop of 16% from this time last year.
“Homebuilders are still catching up and pulling permits from an increase in sales this summer and fall,” said Gary Kraemer, president of Housing First Minnesota. “We expect this trend to continue into winter as homebuyers are eager to make the move, interest rates remain low and the existing housing market has too few homes to choose from.”
According to data compiled by the Keystone Report for Housing First Minnesota, there were 736 permits issued for a total of 1,558 units during four comparable weeks in the month of November.
“While we are pleased to see strong demand, we are increasingly concerned about affordability as low inventory, a skilled labor shortage and supply chain problems from the global pandemic have only added to the price of a new home in Minnesota,” said David Siegel, executive director of Housing First Minnesota. “It is more important than ever that we look at new ways to bring down the cost of new homes. Put simply, too many Minnesota families are being priced out of homeownership.”
For the month, Lakeville took the top spot with 88 permits issued. Otsego came in next with 60 permits issued. Dayton with 44 permits, Cottage Grove with 35 permits and Woodbury with 30 permits rounded out the top five cities in November.
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