A Johnson County address is in high demand, data shows.
Demand is so great, consumers’ taste are changing, and gaps in the local housing market are being exposed.
About 27% more homes were built last year than the year before. Nearly 1,000 new single-family home permits — 955 — were issued in 2020 in Johnson County, compared to 753 in 2019, according to data from the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis.
Greenwood, Bargersville and Johnson County issued the most new home permits — Greenwood at 339, Bargersville at 211 and unincorporated Johnson County at 185, according to the data. Franklin issued 159 permits, Trafalgar issued 29, Whiteland issued 28, Edinburgh issued three and Prince’s Lakes issued one, data shows.
Many of the permits issued last year in Greenwood and Bargersville were for new lots within subdivisions that were already under construction, officials said. But both communities also approved several new subdivisions which will add to the county’s housing boom in the coming years.
Between the demand and the county’s low unemployment rate throughout the pandemic, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers was not surprised the housing boom continued there, he said.
Greenwood-issued permits grew by 91 over those issued in 2019, for the largest increase in the county. Johnson County and Franklin both issued roughly 30 more than in 2019, while other communities issued a handful more or the same amount. The only community that had a decline in permits in 2020 was Edinburgh, which issued four fewer than in 2019.
Bargersville officials expected growth to be slower than it turned out to be in 2020, but were pleasantly surprised by the increase, said Julie Young, town manager.
The trends look to continue this year. Permit issuance across the county is also up for the first month of 2021, at 90, compared to 66 at the same time last year.
Local realtors say increases in new home permits are directly tied to a lack of established homes for sale right now.
New construction homes were already popular in 2020, but since November, area realtors have noticed the trend shift more to new construction.
Ron Rose, of Indiana Realty Pros, has sold more new construction homes than resale the last few months, he said.
With so few homes on the market, many buyers are turning to new construction because they are weary of the competition or, in some cases, because they can get a better value for a new home, said Greg Leugers, of Keller Williams Hometown Realty.
For buyers in the popular $200,000 to $300,000 price range, it can sometimes be beneficial to build a new home, because prices of existing homes are rising with the demand, Leugers said.
Buyers seeking a home under $200,000 are still better off buying an existing home than building, Rose said. New builds in subdivisions throughout the county right now start at $225,000 to $250,000, he said.
At the same time, builders are raising prices — sometimes weekly — because there is more demand than labor to build homes, which has prompted multiple builders to create long wait-lists for an eventual build, Rose said.
Demand is increasing for homes at all prices, though higher-priced homes stay on the market longer, Leugers said. Demand is likely to remain as long as interest rates stay low, he said.
The increasing demand offers community leaders the reassurance that a Johnson County address is desirable. Now, they have to look at ways to strategically increase supply, said Christian Maslowski, Aspire Johnson County president and CEO.
To start that conversation, Aspire is putting together a county housing alliance, a working group of economic development and business leaders and local officials who wish to examine housing gaps and brainstorm ways to fill them, Maslowski said.
One known gap is “workforce housing,” housing that is priced for factory and warehouse employees who work in the county but cannot afford to buy a house here. It is something many local employers want to see addressed, he said.
Another challenge is the stigma surrounding “affordable housing.” For Aspire, the definition is not specifically a focus on low-income housing, but rather an affordable-for-all housing strategy, Maslowski said.
Aspire’s goal is increasing the supply of available homes for low, moderate and high income individuals, he said.
“The good news is we know there is a desire for a Johnson County address,” Maslowski said. “We just have to figure out how to best address that need for more housing.”
