Twin Cities homebuilders closing out a sluggish 2014

A burst of apartment construction this month has gotten activity closer to 2013 levels after a mostly tepid year for Twin Cities homebuilders.

During November, 405 permits were issued to build 865 units in the metro, according to data compiled by the Keystone Report for the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC). That includes several multifamily projects, mostly rental apartments, that helped compensate for declines in new single-family houses and boost total unit count by 34 percent.

"As much of the economy rallies, new housing has stalled," said Shawn Nelson, president of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities and of New Spaces. "The housing industry remains concerned for the near future as single-family construction continues to lag."

Stagnant wage growth across the nation has helped stifle housing construction, which has struggled to maintain the momentum it had last year. The U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday that new home sales across the country were essentially flat during October, rising only 0.7 percent from the previous month.

Across the country, declines in single-family home sales have been offset by strong demand for rental housing, especially in larger metropolitan areas such as the Twin Cities. In the metro area, multifamily housing accounted for 55 percent of all construction this month, bringing the year-to-date average to 52 percent.

Those projects include a 196-unit, $36 million luxury apartment project in Apple Valley that's being developed by Stonebridge, and nearly 200 units in Minneapolis.

With stronger-than-expected gains in apartment construction this month, the Twin Cities is gaining ground on last year's numbers. So far this year 4,559 permits were issued to build 9,106 units, just 2 percent fewer than last year at this time.

The Twin Cities office of Metrostudy, a national real estate research firm, showed that through the first nine months of the year there were 4,258 new single-family detached, townhouse and duplexes started in the Twin Cities. That's 7.4 percent fewer than the same time last year.

In his latest report, Chris Huecksteadt, regional director of Metrostudy's Twin Cities region, said that despite a ho-hum summer for homebuilders, the numbers for the second and third quarter of 2014 were better than those of any year since 2007, with the exception of last year.

"While the slowdown this year is not likely indicative of a major decline in the coming months, it does show that the recent uptick in activity was not sustainable."

In addition to slowing economic growth, homebuilders are facing a host of other challenges, including much higher home, land and materials prices than last year at this time. Randy Bacchus, director of the new homes division at Edina Realty, said that on average new homes cost 11 to 12 percent more than they did last year.

Bacchus said sales have also been stifled by a shortage of new homes that might appeal to entry-level buyers. There are now 20 percent fewer new houses for sale at less than $300,000.