The number of residential permits issued by the New York City Department of Buildings rose by 19 percent in 2012, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data released by the New York Building Congress.
The DOB issued permits for 10,599 units in 1,011 buildings in 2012, compared to 8,936 units in 997 buildings in 2011. The 2012 number represents a 75 percent increase since the 2009 recessionary low of 6,057 units, but is still some ways away from the 2008 peak of 33,911 permits. Eighty-six percent of all permits issued were for multifamily residences.
“The residential market is steadily climbing back from the doldrums of 2009 and 2010,” said New York Building Congress President Richard Anderson. “While we are likely to remain well below the peak attained in the middle of the previous decade, the latest data is encouraging nonetheless.”
Brooklyn and the Bronx saw the biggest gains, with a more than 100 percent increase in both boroughs. The number of permits issued in Brooklyn went from 1,522 units in 2011 to 3,353 in 2012, while the number of permits issued in the Bronx went from 1,116 in 2011 to 2,552 in 2012. Activity in Manhattan remained stable, going from 2,535 in 2011 to 2,492 in 2012, and Staten Island saw a modest increase, going from 581 units in 2011 to 673 in 2012. Queens was the only borough that saw a decrease, with the number of new permits dropping to 1,529 in 2012 from 3,182 in 2011.
Construction costs stayed rather steady year-over-year, with the average cost per unit in 2012 rising less than $1,000 to $98,000. –Hiten Samtani