New home construction has nationally fallen to new lows and 2011 is expected to be the worst year on record for the industry. But Minneapolis and the Greater Twin Cities Area are looking good for residential permitting.
According to the Minneapolis data the city permitted construction of 1,571 units in 2006, but hit a bottom in 2009 when it permitted only 274 units. That year the city tied with Blaine for the second-most permits. Shakopee was No. 1 at 328.
This year alone Minneapolis will issue permits to build more than 1,500 new housing units, according to the Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development. That’s double last year’s total and likely the highest number of units for any metro-area city since at least 2006 when Minneapolis issued 1,571 permits.
Year Number of Units
2006 1,571
2007 1,012
2008 464
2009 328
2010 865
2011 1,500
The construction isn’t all single-family home construction, though. According to a new analysis of aerial photography and land-use data from the Metropolitan Council, the metro area’s regional planning agency, the type of new housing construction has changed. In the 1990s, 67% of permitted residential units were single-family detached homes. In the past decade, that number has dropped to 44%, resulting in denser new residential construction like town homes and apartment complexes.
In the rest of the metro, there were 257 permits for a total of 370 units issued in the Twin Cities. Year-to-date, there were 1,581 permits issued for a total of 2,294 units. Farmington led the suburbs in building activity for July with 71 units. Blaine followed with 42 units, then Chanhassen with 32 and Plymouth and Prior Lake with 19 each. For the number of permits issued, Blaine was the leader with 21, followed by Chanhassen with 20, Plymouth at 16, Prior Lake with 14 and Shakopee and Lakeville at 13 each.
For the first seven months of the year, the top five communities in the metro area for permits issued were Blaine, with 160, followed by Maple Grove at 117, Woodbury with 106, Plymouth at 95 and Shakopee with 71.For sale housing is part of the mix, as well. Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity plans to build or rehab 60 for-sale houses in the metro area, including 16 townhouses in Minneapolis. Habitat is increasing its production goals in 2011 compared with 2010 because it can take advantage of lower land and labor costs to build its houses more affordably.
