A monster month for homebuilding permits.

Byline: Brian Johnson

As measured by new housing units permitted, the Twin Cities is coming off its biggest October since before the Great Recession.

Metro area cities issued permits for 1,737 new homes during the month more than twice as many as the previous October and the biggest October number since before 2003, according to Housing First Minnesota and the Keystone Report.

That includes permits for 555 new single-family houses, up 19% year-over-year. Market watchers have to go back to at least 2005 to find a busier October for single-family permits, according to Housing First Minnesota.

But apartments were the biggest driver.

During the month, cities in the 13-county area permitted projects with 1,182 multifamily units, up 207%, according to Keystone. Minneapolis alone permitted 747 new dwellings, including five apartment buildings with more than 100 units each.

The Minneapolis projects include buildings under construction at 240 Park Avenue (204 units), 1107 Washington Ave. S. (153 units), 747 Third Street N. (139 units), 1202 Fourth St. SE (114 units) and 1000 Third St. N. (109 units).

In White Bear Lake, Amcon Construction pulled a permit for a new 192-unit building at 1711 County Road E. Shafer-Richardson is developing the $30 million project at the northeast corner of County Road E and Linden Avenue.

October 2019

% change from October 2018

Year-to-date 2019

% change from 2018

Multifamily permits

36

+24

234

-10

Multifamily units

1,182

+207

7,912

+51

Single-family permits

555

+19

5,081

+2

Total permits

591

+19

5,315

+1

Total units

1,737

+104

12,991

+27

Total $ volume

$268.4 million

+36

$405.9 million

+40

Source: Keystone Report

For the year to date through October, the metro area has issued permits for 7,912 planned multifamily units, up 51%. Among projects with 60 or more units, permits (42) are up 40% and planned units (6,360) are 67% ahead of last year.

Though rentals account for the bulk of the multifamily activity, condos may be a growth area to watch going into next year, said Herb Tousley, director of real estate programs at the University of St. Thomas.

"That [for-sale] percentage is going to start to creep up," said Tousley, who added that pent-up demand and recent changes in state law that make it less risky to build for-sale products may drive the growth.

After the strong showing in October, single-family permits are now roughly 2% ahead of last year. So far this year, builders have pulled permits for 5,081 new...