Builders nationwide took out permits for more than 336,000 units in the final quarter of 1988, up 5.8 percent for the same period of 1987, according to a report by U.S. Housing Markets. It was the first year-to-year gain in permits for any three-month period since the first quarter of 1986.
Chicago was one of four major Midwest markets with increases in single-family permits for 1989, along with Cleveland, Milwaukee and Columbus, Ohio.
The total nationwide increase was a reflection of gains in both single-family and multifamily permits. This is the first three-month period since the 1986 first quarter that the nation has posted an increase in multifamily permits, ending a string of 10 straight quarterly losses.
But that activity was extremely concentrated. Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas, the California markets and Dade and Palm Beach Counties in Florida were largely responsible for the quarterly upswing in rental and condo permits, while most other major markets continued to slide.
The West once again showed the strongest fourth quarter, attributed in large part to the unabated boom in Las Vegas and the continued strong demand in California. Riverside-San Bernardino, the hottest of the California markets, issued more permits than any other metropolitan area in the country last year.
The second busiest market, Los Angeles, came up just short of 50,000 residential permits but still had its fifth-busiest year in history despite a 20 percent drop in multifamily permits.
California builders slowed down somewhat in the fourth quarter after threatened growth restrictions lost at the ballot in November, but the 43,000 single-family permits broke the California market`s 1986 record by 30 percent. The New England region was the biggest loser, issuing 26 percent fewer permits in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year; the region`s total for the year was off by almost 22 percent. Boston was down 25 percent in single-family and almost 40 percent in multifamily activity. U.S. Housing Market pinned the blame on the mid-`80s land and housing price escalation, which priced many potential buyers out of the market and depressed demand.
Chicago was the fifth busiest major metropolitan market, after Riverside- San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington. The Windy City issued more than 35,000 permits in 1988, including more than 23,000 single-family units.
In Atlanta, single-family permits were down by almost 9 percent for the year, but 16,000 multifamily units made up for that drop. Along with Atlanta, a few Florida markets helped the South to a 6.8 percent gain for the fourth quarter. Dade County had big gains in both single- and multifamily unit permits.
Preliminary figures for the year also show that the Mountain region was the only one to post a significant gain in multifamily activity, almost solely because of the furious Las Vegas boom. Overall, the region enjoyed a more than 17 percent increase over last quarter 1987.
