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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nextrade! who wrote (5280)	9/13/2002 5:55:58 AM
From: nextrade!	Respond to of 306849

Apartment permits hit wall, By Kristi Arellano Denver Post Business Writer denverpost.com Friday, September 13, 2002 - Apartment developers stopped asking for building permits in July, according to a report issued Thursday. "I think the zero permits number is sort of a fluke, but I am glad to see the overall number of permits going down," said Cary Bruteig, president of Apartment Appraisers & Consultants in Denver. Nearly 60 percent fewer apartment permits were issued through the first seven months of this year than in 2001, according to the report by the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver. For comparison, single-family construction through July is trailing 2001 by 12.8 percent. Construction of condominiums and townhomes is down 29.6 percent, according to the report. "Every month we add permits, we add to the supply of what's being built, which is going to slow the recovery in the apartment market," Bruteig said. The vacancy rate for metro-area apartments has been on the rise for five of the past seven quarters, according to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. The second-quarter vacancy rate of 9.3 percent is the highest since the second quarter of 1990. Experts said a dip in apartment construction gives existing apartments a chance to fill up. The slowdown reflects the reluctance of developers to pursue new projects in the struggling economy, said Gordon Von Stroh, a University of Denver management professor who tracks the local apartment market. At least one homebuilder thinks there are factors other than the economy dampening home sales. "In the past couple of months, we've seen a lot of trepidation on the part of homebuyers," said Jim Harmon, president of Amber Homes Inc. Many buyers have postponed purchases because they've been preoccupied by the drought and the Sept. 11 anniversary, he said.