The single-family home permit total in southeast Michigan was 35 percent lower in September than August 2016’s revised total of 492 units, and 20 percent lower than September 2015, says a new forecast from the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan in Farmington Hills.
Based on residential permit data, the New Housing Permit Forecast — October 2016 says that a total of 420 single-family permits were issued in Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties in September 2016. The month’s performance was below what the Home Builders Association’s economic forecast model expected (633).
“All of our model’s economic indicators related to new single-family home permit activity remain relatively positive,” says Michael Stoskopf, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan.
“Therefore, my conclusion is the economic uncertainty — real or perceived regarding who will win the presidential election in November — is at least temporarily keeping buyers on the sidelines. In times of economic uncertainty, again real or perceived, people tend to delay major life choices like changing jobs, or in this case, buying a new home.”
He suspects that new home permit activity for single-family homes will rebound accordingly after the November elections.
In turn, more than 85 multi-family permits were issued in September in southeast Michigan, which brings the year-to-date total of permits to 996, slightly higher than the 2015 total through September (990). This marks the best nine-month period to start a year for multi-family permits since 2003 (1,509).
For more information, visit builders.org.
