Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Multifamily permits up 89 percent in Colorado during 2011

During 2011 in Colorado, building permits issued for multifamily construction were up 89.6 percent, compared to 2010, while permits issued for single-family construction were up 2.6 percent for the same period.

Through year-end 2011, 9,288 single-family permits were issued and 4,002 multifamily permits were issued (5 units or more per building), for a total of 13,290 units.

During 2010, 9,050 single-family permits were issued and 2,110 multifamily permits were issued.



During December alone, 481 multifamily permits were issued in Colorado, and 601 single-family permits were issued. December multifamily permits were up 9.5 percent, year over year, while single-family permits were up 4.8 percent.



The second graph shows that overall, both multi-family and single-family permits in December were at levels well below what were typical over the past decade. Since 2009, however, both multi-family and single-family permits have shown a slow upward trend.

During December, the number of new multi-family permits issued was up from December 2010, and was the highest December total reported in four years. December continued a general trend in which monthly multi-family permits have been at multi-year highs during recent months.



December was another flat month for single-family permits for the most part, although it was at a slight four-year high. Overall December totals were well below December totals seen before 2009, but has nevertheless shown a mild growth trend since.



Once again, multi-family growth trends outpaced single-family growth in December, and overall totals for 2011 show a near doubling of multi-family permit activity in 2011 over 2010's totals. Single-family activity in 2011, on the other hand, was largely flat compared with 2010. Compared to peak levels, both single-family and multi-family permit activity is down considerably. Single-family permits were down 77 percent in 2011 compared to the 2005 peak of 40,430, while multi-family permits were down 52 percent in 2011 from the 2006 peak of 8,378.

Much of the multi-family activity during 2008, however, was driven by condominium construction while almost all multi-family construction during 2011 was for rental apartments. The 89 percent increase in multi-family permit activity from 2010 to 2011 indicates an ongoing demand for new multifamily rental product.