New Residential Permit Volume Through November 2002

Permit volume throughout the nation as a whole rose by 6.1% during the first 11 months of last year, and 16 of the country's top 25 metropolitan areas in 2001 managed gains through November 2002 when compared with January-November 2001 volume.

The Atlanta area recorded 41% more new home/apartment permits than any other metro area in the United States through the first 11 months of 2002, although this sprawling city's total volume through November of last year was running only 0.8% ahead of its January-November 2001 total.

Among 2001's largest home building markets (as measured by the volume of both single-family and multifamily permitted construction), Houston (+27.0%), Sacramento (+24.7%), Riverside-San Bernardino (+22.9%), Fort Worth (+15.9%), Tampa (+13.4%), New York (+12.3%), Minneapolis (+12.0%) and Orlando (10.1%) grew at double-digit rates through the first 11 months of 2002. The major metro areas recording the steepest declines in permit volume over the first 11 months of last year were Denver (-22.5%), Raleigh-Durham (-19.9%), San Diego (-12.3%), Charlotte (-9.4%) and Kansas City (-7.9%).

All of Florida's metro markets recorded strong gains in residential permit volume during the first 11 months of 2002. In addition to the solid increases registered in Tampa and Orlando, smaller metro markets areas that had increased momentum in home construction during 2002 included Ocala (+95.5%), Fort Pierce (+51.5%), Melbourne (+37.0%), West Palm Beach-Boca Raton (+24.6%), Pensacola (+21.6%), Fort Lauderdale (+17.6%) and Sarasota-Bradenton (+10.5%).