Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Colorado multifamily permits surge in March, up 62 percent in 2012

Through March 2012 in Colorado this year, building permits issued for multifamily construction were up 62 percent, year over year, while permits issued for single-family construction were up 34 percent for the same period.

During the month, 702 multifamily permits were issued in Colorado, and 913 single-family permits were issued. During March 2011, there were 493 multi-family permits issued, and 735 single-family permits issued. The first graph shows permit activity for the first three months of the year since 1998. Through March of this year, there have been 2319 single-family permits and 1108 multifamily permits issued.


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


During March 2012, the number of new multi-family permits issued was up from March 2011, and were at a six-year high. Over the past decade, only 2006 had more multifamily permit activity during the month of March. 


In the other hand. March was another flat month for single-family permits for the most part, and March's single-family permit total was at the third-lowest level reported in ten years. Overall, March's totals were well below March totals seen before 2009.


Once again, multi-family growth trends outpaced single-family growth, and March 2012 was one of the strongest months for multifamily activity in five years.

Summary: Permit activity during March signaled a continued lack of growth in single-family construction while multifamily activity continued to grow.