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

To: Mick Mørmøny who wrote (69697)	12/31/2006 10:39:05 AM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Building Boom In NYC Hits The Wall By ANGELA MONTEFINISE December 31, 2006 -- The number of construction permits for new city buildings is on pace to decline for the first time in almost a decade. From January to November of this year, the city issued 5,599 permits for new buildings in all five boroughs. In 2005, the city issued 6,689 permits. Until now, the annual number of permits increased every year since 1998. The overall number of construction permits - including alterations and demolitions - is also expected to drop off for the first time in 11 years. Through November, the city issued 104,188 permits, down from 111,283 last year. Real-estate experts said the downturn could reflect a housing market that's reached a plateau but doesn't necessarily signal the end of the building boom. "Did the market slow down for a while? Sure," said Andy Gerringer of Prudential Douglas Elliman. "But the frost came off the market, and it really is healthy." Gerringer speculated that the amount of available land was simply drying up. "From the amount of building that's been going on, there are just less development sites to be had," he said. Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said that the number of projects might be shrinking but that "right now you're getting more construction and larger projects per permit than you've ever had before." He cited the 6 percent increase in the number of crane permits - 1,469 this year, up from 1,390 last year - as a "good way to gauge the number of large projects." Staten Island saw the biggest decline in the city, with 6,022 permits issued through November, compared to 8,539 last year. The Staten Island Board of Realtors blamed the decline on zoning changes that lowered the number of units that can be built on a plot of land. But it also pointed to a 14 percent decrease in sales. "Overall, I think there was a lot more inventory for sale [last year], so there was less demand for new construction this year," said Board of Realtors CEO Sandy Krueger. "Builders held back, but I don't think they're going to hold back for long." Doctoroff said that the housing market could level off but that overall construction activity is expected to increase over the next three years. About $30 billion in construction is planned for lower Manhattan alone. Doctoroff acknowledged that the increased demand could keep construction costs rising - which could be another cause of decreased permits. "Construction costs have gotten so high that everything's tightened up a little," said Marolyn Davenport, senior vice president of the Real Estate Board of New York. "Lenders have tightened up and people are being very, very careful." nypost.com angela.montefinise@nypost.com