Area homebuilding off to strong start in 2015

The rebound homebuilders experienced in central Indiana last year is continuing into 2015.

Builders filed 318 single-family permits in the nine-county metropolitan area last month, the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis said Thursday. That's a 6-percent increase from the previous January.

For January, Marion County saw 62 filings, a healthy 38-percent increase from a year ago.

Hamilton County, as usual, led the area in filings, with 106 in January. But the number was down 17 percent from January 2013.

Filings rose 44 percent in Hendricks County, to 39, but dipped 8 percent in Johnson County, to 47.

Hancock County saw a 60-percent rise in permits, to 24, while the 30 permits filed in Boone County last month represented a 25-percent increase.

Morgan County saw four filings and Madison County had one.

Shelby County had five filings, compared with none in January 2014.

Local builders are coming off their best year since 2007. They filed 5,084 permits last year, a 3-percent increase from the 4,959 filed in 2013.