Kansas City Metro Building Permits See Modest Increase

The eight county Kansas City metropolitan area topped 1,500 permits in the first five months of 2023. Local cities and counties recorded 431 single-family building permits during May, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,514 according to the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City’s (KCHBA) monthly Residential Building Permit Statistics report. However, this is 32 percent lower than this time last year when 2,232 single-family permits had been issued.

“It’s difficult to imagine anything more consequential to the overall economic health of a community or of the health of its residents than housing,” said Will Ruder, executive vice president of the KCHBA. “Millions of American homeowners are locked into historically low interest rates for the life of their mortgage. As housing costs rise due to continued consumer demand for dwindling housing supply, new home construction will have to account for a much larger role in the overall housing market and we’ll need community support more than ever to build more diverse housing at more diverse price points. Therefore, it’s more important than ever that our region’s governing bodies actively partner with housing providers of all types if we are to meet the needs of current and future residents.”

Kansas City, Mo., continues to issue the most singlefamily permits with 125 in May. Other top permitting cities for the month include Raymore with 37 singlefamily issued permits, Olathe with 36, Pleasant Hill with 28 and Lenexa with 22.