New homes construction slows on Staten Island

Construction of new homes on Staten Island has fallen by more than half
over the last five years, a steeper drop than any other borough,
according to the city’s buildings department. “To be honest, the
builders are looking for another long year in 2008,” said Larry
Brinker, executive officer of the Building Industry Association on
Staten Island. “The general consensus is that we have not quite hit
bottom yet and that we will bottom out in the second quarter of ’08 and
then start to turn up. However, nobody believes the market will ever go
back to what it was in 2003, 2004 and 2005 — that real hot market.”