Multifamily permits hit eleven-year high during July

The Census Bureau released new permit data in late August:

Through July 2012 in Colorado this year, building permits issued for multifamily construction were up 154 percent, year over year, while permits issued for single-family construction were up 33 percent for the same period.

During July 2012, 866 multifamily permits were issued in Colorado, and 1,245 single-family permits were issued. During July 2011, there were 546 multi-family permits issued, and 961 single-family permits issued. The first graph shows permit activity for the first seven months of the year since 1999. Through July of this year, there have been 7,243 single-family permits and 4,402 multifamily permits issued.

For July alone,  multifamily permits were up 58 percent and singlefamily permits were up 29 percent, compared to June 2011.

The second graph shows that overall,both multifamily and single-family permits continue to move upward with the most recent three months being particularly active in multifamily permitting.

During July 2012, the number of new multi-family permits issued were at the highest level recorded during any July since July 2001 when permits totaled 1,748.

Single-family permits for July were also at a five-year high and actually topped the pre-financial-crisis permit total from July 2008. This suggests that even single-family construction is beginning to see some real signs of life for the first time since 2008. 

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