Building Permits Off but Townhouses Are Hot in the Twin Cities

According to a report from Housing First Minnesota, 539 building permits were issued to builders in the Twin Cities during the month of November which is 14% fewer than last year. The good news is that sales of townhouses and entry level homes were up, which doubled the permit figures for that segment of the market. “The rise in townhouse production is a direct result of builders seeking to provide a more affordable product in order to reach the highest array of buyers,” said Tom Wiener, a home builder and president of Housing First Minnesota.

Housing permits — an indicator of future construction — along with a handful of local and national reports, show that housing construction in the Twin Cities metro has been relatively strong compared with other markets despite falling temperatures and rising prices for everything from land to labor.

Apartment developers are still on pace to build a record number of units in some areas, but that momentum has eased slightly during the past few months. This month, the biggest multifamily project permitted is a 185-unit building on what’s known as the Sons of Norway site in the Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis. It’s being developed by Twin Cities-based Ryan Cos. and Washington-based Weidner Apartment Homes.

Across the country, new home sales during October fell 8.9 percent compared with last year, according to a Census Bureau report released Wednesday. But revisions to previous months’ data show that summer sales were much stronger than expected, taking the sting out of what is widely considered a dismal October.