The number of residential building permits issued in the Twin Cities in January dropped 20 percent from December—and 46 percent from January 2008, according to a report released Tuesday by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC).
The 127 permits issued last month marks the lowest January figure recorded by BATC within the past five years. In December, 158 permits were issued; the number was 235 in January 2008.
But while issued permits were down, the BATC report indicates that the number of housing units planned for the metro area increased 53 percent between December and January. BATC attributes the increase in large part to two large multi-family projects—an Inver Grove Heights project that will house senior citizens and an assisted living development in Glencoe.
The 340 housing units permitted in January is still down from the 364 permitted in January 2008—but only slightly.
Inver Grove Heights led the metro area in building activity for January with a reported 103 units permitted. Glencoe was next with 65 units permitted, and Oakdale followed with 30. Fourteen units were permitted in Woodbury, and Maple Grove and Shakopee both had 10.
