Real estate notebook: Local builders see rise in both houses and apartments in August

During the four-week period ended Aug. 27, builders in the 13-county metro were issued 470 permits to build 739 units, according to data gathered by the Keystone Report for the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC). That was a 13.8 percent increase in permits and a 38.9 percent rise in new units.

These communities issued the most permits last month:

Minnetonka 107

Carver69

Ramsey52

Plymouth 38

Woodbury 37

Despite two consecutive months of stronger permit activity, including a recent spike in single-family construction, homebuilding in the region has been flat compared with last year. In a statement, BATC President Chris Contreras said "While we're happy to see another month of improvement in the market, we were hoping for a much stronger year in 2015."

Here's how the year stacks up against the previous four in January-through-August unit counts:

2011 2,731

2012 4,903

2013 6,088

2015 5,682

Though housing construction has been slack compared with last year, the total value of the permits is the highest in nearly a decade. So far this year, total permit value was $1.296 billion, more than $70 million higher than last year.