New-home applications in central Indiana show April surge

After a slow start to the year, central Indiana builders saw filings for new homes surge in April.

Builders filed 1,043 single-family building permits in the nine-county area last month, an increase of 12% compared with the same month of 2024, according to the latest statistics from the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis, or BAGI.

Filings have increased in two of the first four months of 2025 on a year-over-year basis following a streak of 20 straight months of rising applications. (BAGI originally reported a decrease in filings in February but has since revised those numbers to an increase.)

So far in 2025, 3,251 permits have been filed overall in the area, up 1% from the 3,221 that were filed in the first four months of 2024.

Typical home-construction hotbed Hamilton County saw a big declines in permit activity last month, but Marion, Hendricks and Hancock experienced significant increases (see county-by-county numbers below).

National outlook

The National Association of Home Builders said economic uncertainty stemming from tariff issues, elevated mortgage rates and rising building material costs led to a reduction in single-family starts in April.

Single-family housing starts decreased 12% during the month nationally on a year-over-year basis to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 927,000 units.

County-by-county filings

April single-family building permit filings by county and year-over-year change:

Hamilton: 212 (-35%)

Hendricks: 210 (+69%)

Marion: 183 (+30%)

Hancock: 144 (+58%)

Boone: 102 (+6%)

Johnson: 84 (+17%)

Madison: 49 (+49%)

Morgan 37 (+32%)

Shelby: 22 (+57%)