May home construction flat

Monthly permits match 2016 rate in metro area

Metro Milwaukee continued its modest pace of home building in May, with construction permits matching the total from the same month last year.

Officials in the Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties issued 122 permits to build new homes last month, according to data from MTD Marketing Services of Wisconsin Inc.

Through the first five months of 2017, permits for 549 homes were recorded in the four-county area. That was down 3.2% from 567 during the same period in 2016.

The homes being built this year are a little bigger than last year’s and have an average value about 12% higher, at $381,907, the MTD report shows.

Menomonee Falls continues to be the hottest spot for home building, with 68 construction permits this year compared with 59 through May 2016.

Other communities seeing the most interest in home building in the first five months of 2017: Mequon, 52 permits, up from 24 last year; Pewaukee, 38 compared with 20; and Waukesha, 32 compared with 30.

Despite robust demand for houses here and in other parts of the U.S. as the economy has improved, home construction has lagged. The 549 permits issued through May is half the 1,099 issued in the four-county metro area through May during the peak home-building year of 2005.

A report released Friday at the National Association of Realtors “Sustainable Homeownership Conference” at the University of California, Berkeley said single-family home construction plummeted after the recession “and is still failing to keep up with demand as cities see increased migration and population as the result of faster job growth.”

Fewer property lots at higher prices, difficulty finding skilled labor and higher construction costs are among reasons cited for housing starts failing to meet the growing demand for new supply.