Number of 2018 Single-family Home Permits Second-highest Since 2006

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The number of single-family home permits was the second-highest in 2018 since 2006.

The 12-month total for 2018 single-family home permits finished at 5,192, making the year the second-best since 2006, when 6,962 permits were issued, according to the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan in Farmington Hills.

The total trailed 2017 by about 5 percent, when 5,465 permits were issued.

In December, 174 single-family permits were issued in Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties. The number is lower than what was forecast.

“While our economic model would suggest a better outcome could’ve been realized, overall, it’s not bad considering ongoing stock market volatility, rising interest rates, residential construction subcontracting limitations, and growing uncertainty regarding the impacts of a prolonged U.S. government shutdown,” says Michael Stoskopf, CEO of the association.

Year-over-year average new home construction permit values and existing home sales prices rose by 13 percent and 6 percent, respectively, to $325,224.

The association’s econometric model is forecasting a relatively short seasonal downturn with the 2019 new home construction season beginning in earnest by March. External forces, particularly the impact that a prolonged U.S. government shutdown might have on federally backed mortgages, could suppress actual results in the first quarter of 2019.

Employment and the workforce have remained steady from the previous month and year. While North American vehicle production was 1.2 million, about the same as the year prior, it dropped more than 18 percent since the previous month. Crude oil price per barrel has decreased by 17.9 percent from the previous month to $56.76 but has remained flat year-over-year.