Based on residential permit data, the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan (HBA) today announced a total of 327 single-family permits were issued in Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties during November, bringing the total for the first 11 months of 2017 to 5,034, surpassing the 2016 total.
This is the best year for residential home construction in the region since 2006, when 6,696 permits were issued.
Throughout the state, housing permits for single-family home construction increased 8.8 percent through the end of November. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Home Builders Association of Michigan (HBAM), there were 15,732 permits issued in the first 11 months of 2017, compared to 14,460 for the same period a year ago.
“We are finishing the year on an upswing which will provide some nice momentum as we head into 2018,” says Bob Filka, CEO of HBAM. “As we look ahead to 2018, we remain concerned about issues that continue to constrain our growth including a shortage of skilled labor, lack of available lots, and rising costs.”
In December, HBAM proposed a 13-point action plan to address southeastern Michigan’s looming housing shortage, following an annual forecast that new home construction would increase by only 1 percent in 2018.
“The challenges we have been talking about particularly the lack of skilled workers will continue to limit the growth of the housing industry in Michigan,” adds Filka. “It is imperative as a state that we make these issues a leading priority not only for the good of our industry but for the entire Michigan economy.”
For metro Detroit, multi-family rental permits also continued an “unexpectedly strong” performance, reaching a total of 2,100 permits issued through Nov. 2017. Compared to last year, multi-family activity across southeastern Michigan’s four-county area increased 27 percent, the best year on record since 2003 when 2,189 permits were issued.
HBA executives attribute the increase to the strength of economic factors, including employment, existing home sales, and residential real estate price appreciation, which fuel a strong home construction market throughout the region.
Assuming the absence of major weather events, HBA’s econometric model predicts a total of 5,363 single-family permits will be issued during 2017 once December’s data has been calculated, completing the industry’s best year since 2006.
HBA also announced their 2018 executive committee, including:
- President: Lawrence Cohen, Tremont Construction, Franklin
- First Vice President: Robert M. Tedesco of Silverado Homes, Birmingham
- Treasurer: David Compo of Compo Builders Inc., Novi
- Secretary: Ben Templeton of Templeton Building, Birmingham
- Immediate Past President: William Phillips, Windham Development Inc., Bloomfield Hills
Vice Presidents:
- Tim Capaldi, Capaldi Building, Birmingham
- Jason Minock, Toll Brothers Inc., Wixom
- Joe Saylor, Saylor Building Co., Troy
- Rino Soave, Infinity Homes Corp., Livonia
Associate Vice President:
- Philip Seaver, Seaver Title Agency, Bloomfield Hills
CEO:
- Michael C. Stoskopf
