October permits: multifamily permits up 113 percent in 2011

During the first ten months of 2011 in Colorado, building permits issued for multifamily construction are up 113 percent, year over year, while permits issued for single-family construction are up 1.5 percent for the same period.

This year, through October, there have been 3,335 multifamily permits issued in Colorado, and 7,963 single-family permits issued. For the same period during 2010, there were 1,559 multi-family permits issued, and 7,844 single-family permits.



For the month of October alone, single-family permits are up, year-over-year, by 9.1 percent, and multi-family permits are up by 433 percent. There were 695 single-family permits and 614 multi-family permits issued during October 2011. There were 637 single-family permits and 115 multi-family permits issued during October 2010.

The second graph shows that overall, both multi-family and single-family permits in October were at levels below what were typical over the past decade, but that both are increasing.



During October, the number of new multi-family permits issued was up significantly from October 2011, and was the fourth-highest September total for multi-family permits in ten years. 2011 overall has shown some significant growth in multi-family activity.



Growth in single-family permit activity suggests there is some hope among single-family homebuilders, but that demand is restrained. October's permit total for single-family units was at a 3-year high, although it remains well below typical September totals reported over the past decade.



Conclusions: This data further reinforces the notion that interest in new multifamily construction continues to increase at a much faster rate than interest in single-family construction.