The number of building permits was the highest issued for the first quarter in 10 years for single-family and multi-family homes across metro Detroit, the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan in Farmington Hills reported today.
The Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan in Farmington Hills reports 1,265 single-family and multi-family permits were issued in Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties in the first quarter of 2016. It was the highest combined total Q1 start to the year since 2006.
Macomb Township, Canton Township, Lyon Township, Shelby Township, and Novi made up more than 40 percent of the 944 single-family permits that were issued, which included 69 municipalities across the four-county area.
Orion Township, Macomb Township, and Clinton Township comprised over more than 70 percent of the 361 multi-family permits issued, a. The total is 35 percent higher increase than the multi-family permits recorded in first quarter of 2015.last year.
Michael Stoskopf, CEO of the Homebuilders Association says the permit increase is due to a variety of factors, including warmer weather than normal and employment.
“We had nearly a four 4 percent rise in the number of people employed in the Southeast Michigan region (during the first quarter),” Stoskophf citing a strong correlation between employment and the number of housing permits issed.
Stoskopf says multi-family construction will continued to accelerate. The trend is reflective of a generational shift that is occurring across the country, as millennials delay buying their first homes in favor of renting an apartment.
He says the rise in overall permits is expected to continue into future quarters. “Our six month forecast shows continued growth, and that this could, in fact, be the best year since 2006,” says Stoskopf.
