According to new multifamily permit data for Colorado counties, 282 multifamily permits were issued during January 2012, and 225 of them were issued in Denver County. 49 were issued in Arapahoe County and 8 were issued in Jefferson County.
No other county in the state reported any new multifamily permits during the month.
For more historical info on multifamily permits, see here.
During January 2011, 137 multifamily permits were issued in the reporting counties, and 126 of those, or 92 percent, were issued in Denver County.
With so little demand for new condominiums right now, it is safe to assume that the lopsided majority of new multifamily permits being issued are for rental housing. We see most of this activity in areas where vacancy rates have been tight or look to be tight for the near to mid-term.
The downtown Denver area has been one of the most in-demand areas for rental housing in recent quarters, and recent demand for new construction in the neighborhood has made Denver a large part of new multifamily construction.
The Census Bureau has not yet released its 2011 year-end report which include more data from most of the state's 64 counties. We will publish an analysis when that data becomes available.
Denver County Permits
Multifamily permits during January in Denver were at a ten-year high and they have increased year over year since 2009. There were 12 multifamily permits issued during January 2009, but by January 2012, the January total had grown by 1,700 percent to 225 permits. Notably, January 2002 produced more than 600 multifamily permits, but much of that was due to new development that had been planned in response to Amendment 24, an Amendment designed to control growth in Colorado. Since the defeat of Amendment 24, multifamily permitting during January has been relatively subdued with the exception of January 2005 and 2012.
