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Permit Reports
Kansas City
Housing Permits Near Record Levels
in July
Kansas City construction
activity once again approached
near record levels for single-family
housing permits in July, with local
home builders pulling 1,107 permits
across the eight-county metropolitan
area, according to statistics compiled
by the Home Builders Association
of Greater Kansas City (HBA). That
total marks the second highest
number of permits issued in a single
month on record in the metropolitan
area, topping the 1,052 single-family
new home permits issued in June
and falling just short of the record
1,167 permits issued in March 1999.
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July
Permit Reports |
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Residential
Building Permit Statistics
- Excel | PDF
Single-family
Detached Residential Building
Permits Report - Excel | PDF
Permit information
is compiled by the Home Builders
Association
of Greater Kansas City.
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Permit activity was up
33 percent last month compared to July
2002 when 832 permits were issued. A
total of 6,384 single-family permits
have been issued year-to-date, an 11
percent increase from the 5,742 permits
issued in the first seven months of 2002.
Local new home permit activity is on
pace for more than 11,000 permits, which
would establish a new mark for most permits
issued in a single year. A record 10,285
single-family new home permits were issued
in 1999.
The strength of the new
home construction markets locally and
nationwide comes at a time when mortgage
rates are on the increase from historic
low levels. Still, the rise in new home
sales and construction activity is not
a surprise, according to the HBA Executive
Vice President Tim Underwood.
“Despite the recent
rise, mortgage rates remain very favorable
for new home buyers,” Underwood
said. “With the economy showing
signs of improvement, it is unlikely
there will be another drop in rates.
As a result, many new home buyers will
be motivated to buy now and lock in at
what are still historically low mortgage
rates. By taking advantage of low rates
now, many families can still afford to
buy their first home or even buy a larger
home than they will be able to when rates
are higher.”
Gains in new home construction
have been posted across the metropolitan
area with the largest increases in Wyandotte
County (up 49 percent), Cass County (up
37 percent) and Clay County (up 31 percent).
Kansas City, Mo., has posted the most
significant increase among local cities
with a 39 percent jump from last year.
The city leads the metropolitan area
in single-family new home permits with
1,143 issued through July.
Olathe ranks second with
671 permits, followed by Lee’s
Summit with 500 and Overland Park with
493.
Rounding out the top10
permitting cities through July are Shawnee,
356; Raymore, 269; Grain Valley, 231;
Kansas City, Kan./Wyandotte County, 224;
Independence, 215; and Lenexa, 190.
The
Home Builders Association of Greater
Kansas City (HBA) is the voice of the
housing industry and the source for
housing information. Comprising more
than 1,000 member companies, the HBA
represents an industry that contributes
more than $2.5 billion to the Kansas
City economy and supports more than
36,000 jobs in the Greater Kansas City
metropolitan area.
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