Housing construction across the Twin Cities has struggled to keep pace with last year because of a modest decline in new apartments, but single-family builders are holding their own.
During April, 350 permits to build 451 units were issued across the metro, according to the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC). Of those permits, orders for single-family homes were on par with last year, but new apartments lagged by 20 percent.
"We're pleased to see stable numbers, but with early-year forecasts across the board predicting a year of more substantial gains, being flat is disappointing," said BATC President Chris Contreras.
New home sales in the Twin Cities and beyond have improved slightly over the year, but the industry is still far from a complete rebound. Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau said that new home sales during March fell 11.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, but had improved slightly compared with last year.
So far this year, the total number of units planned for the Twin Cities is down about 15 percent, mostly because of a decline in apartments.
During April, multifamily projects — mostly rentals — represented 23 percent of all planned units, compared with 65 percent the previous month and a 40-percent average year-to-date.
Homebuilders have been more upbeat than in previous years and by every measure they're feeling more confident about the market.
J. Sven Gustafson of Stonewood builders, a custom homebuilder in Wayzata, said his business is humming along about the same pace as last year.
"The phone is ringing, and sales are strong," he said. "I hear, however, that some of our competitors are not in the same boat. The work seems to be a bit more consolidated to a few builders, with many not seeing the same workload."
With so many planned apartments last month, Minneapolis issued the most permitted units at 100, followed by Maple Grove at 23 and Blaine with a total of 21 units.
Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376
