Eighteen permits for single-family homes issued in May

Permits for new single-family home starts in Kansas City, Kan., were down slightly in May, according to Unified Government statistics.

Sixty-nine new single-family home permits were issued from January to May 2014 as compared to 75 from January to May 2013, a slight drop of six. It was a slighter drop than January-April 2014, which was down 26 percent from January-April 2013.

The value of the home permits issued, $12.5 million, was up 6 percent in January to May 2014 as compared to January to May 2013.

According to the Greater Kansas City Home Builders Association May statistics, 15 of the new home permits issued in May were in Kansas City, Kan., while three were in Bonner Springs.

Johnson County, Kan., including 14 cities, had the highest number of single-family building permits issued in May, at 153, according to GKC-HBA statistics. Jackson County, Mo., had the second highest number of new home permits in May, at 69.

According to the GKC-HBA, although the market is continuing to improve, the numbers in the Kansas City metropolitan area were a little short of April’s.

While residential building permits have not yet regained the levels established during the past 35 years, May extended the levels achieved during the past year, a GKC-HBA spokesman stated.

In the metropolitan area, the year-to-date total for 2014 is 1,685 single-family permits, while in May, there were 381 single-family permits in the metropolitan area, according to GKC-HBA statistics. May was a decrease of 60 permits from April, but the year-to-date total is a 4 percent increase over 2013.

Multi-family permits are up by 200 in the metropolitan area for the first five months of the year. Wyandotte County did not record any new multi-family permits in May.