Reactions to story from SFGate

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  Condo Construction Boosts Building Stats: In April, condominium and apartment constructions...

  http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2008/05/19/condo_construction_...
  197 days ago in Curbed SF : The San Francisco Neighborhoods and Real Estate Blog · Authority: 1,079

  In April, condominium and apartment constructions helped boost the overall number of new housing starts to their highest levels in over two years. Builders in San Francisco, however, are standing down. The venerable Allan Mark (father of the Mark Co. and, more importantly, Minty Fresh) claims that multifamily construction all but halted in April as financing became difficult and construction costs increased. About 1,838 condo units are underway in the city, while 7,203 or so are approved by have not yet broken ground. [SF Gate]
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  More new apartments, condos built in March

  http://pimblr.com/2008/05/17/more-new-apartments-condos-buil...
  199 days ago in pimblr.com · Authority: 7

  More new apartments, condos built in March Small Business Center: A new resource for small businesses. Get expert advice, forms and more. Construction of apartments and condominiums led national housing starts to their biggest increase in more than two years last month, a trend likely to have occurred on the state level as well. But experts believe it’s more likely a reprieve than a rebound for the languishing housing market. The Commerce Department reported Friday that residential construction climbed 8.2 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. Most of the increase was attributable to multifamily units, which jumped by 36 percent. Single-family homes continued to weaken, falling 1.7 percent to their lowest point in 17 years. From a year ago, the overall figures were down 30.6 percent. “It is definitely too early to uncork the Champagne on the long and winding road to more healthy housing market conditions,” said Brian Bethune, an economist at Waltham, Mass., research firm Global Insight Inc. He said he does not expect housing activity to stabilize until the end of this year. Construction rose 18.5 percent in the West, lagging a 24.4 percent increase in the Midwest, the Commerce Department reported. The Construction Industry Research Board in Burbank hasn’t completed its April report for California housing construction, but data for about half the cities show state trends echoing national ones: declining single-family units and rising multifamily. “It’s rebounded in multifamily from March,” Research Director Ben Bartolotto said. “But I don’t know what the magnitude will be yet.” Condos and apartments tend to swing the overall construction numbers dramatically and not necessarily representatively, because one project getting under way can add hundreds of units, he said. Overall, the Construction Industry Research Board predicts that 81,000 housing units will be built this year, the lowest level since it began tracking the market in 1954. sfgate.com Tags: condos Uncategorized
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  Construction of Apartments, Condos Led National Housing Starts

  http://relistr.com/real-estate/construction-of-apartments-co...
  199 days ago in Real Estate News, Mortgage, Housing, Homes For Sale - Relistr.com · Authority: 38

  May 17 2008 - Construction of apartments and condominiums led national housing starts to their biggest increase in more than two years last month, a trend likely to have occurred on the state level as well. But experts believe it’s more likely a reprieve than a rebound for the languishing housing market. The Commerce Department reported Friday that residential construction climbed 8.2 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. Most of the increase was attributable to multifamily units, which jumped by 36 percent. Single-family homes continued to weaken, falling 1.7 percent to their lowest point in 17 years. From a year ago, the overall figures were down 30.6 percent. “It is definitely too early to uncork the Champagne on the long and winding road to more healthy housing market conditions,” said Brian Bethune, an economist at Waltham, Massachusetts, research firm Global Insight Inc. He said he does not expect housing activity to stabilize until the end of this year. Construction rose 18.5 percent in the West, lagging a 24.4 percent increase in the Midwest, the Commerce Department reported. The Construction Industry Research Board in Burbank hasn’t completed its April report for California housing construction, but data for about half the cities show state trends echoing national ones: declining single-family units and rising multifamily. “It’s rebounded in multifamily from March,” Research Director Ben Bartolotto said. “But I don’t know what the magnitude will be yet.” Condos and apartments tend to swing the overall construction numbers dramatically and not necessarily representatively, because one project getting under way can add hundreds of units, he said. Overall, the Construction Industry Research Board predicts that 81,000 housing units will be built this year, the lowest level since it began tracking the market in 1954. “The underlying trend is that it’s going to be lower,” Bartolotto said. Numbers for San Francisco had not yet been reported to the research board, but Alan Mark of the Mark Co. said few if any multifamily units began construction in April because financing is so difficult, construction costs are increasing and prices are softening. It’s harder still to undertake construction in other parts of the Bay Area, where prices have tended to fall more sharply, the president of the San Francisco condominium marketing and research firm said. There are about 1,838 condominium units under construction in San Francisco and about 7,203 approved but not yet begun, according to the Mark Co. Paul Zeger, president of San Francisco’s Pacific Marketing Associates Inc., said he expects several large projects to begin construction in the city this year, but added that most developers are holding back and watching the market closely. “In general, developers are being cautious because we have a fair amount of inventory coming into the marketplace and lackluster activity,” he said. One builder that did recently forge ahead is Jackson Pacific Ventures of San Francisco, which started construction on One Hawthorne Place this year. The $150 million, 165-unit residential mid-rise, a joint venture with MacFarlane Partners, won’t be finished until 2010. “Our level of confidence in San Francisco and the San Francisco economy and real estate market long term is high, without reservation,” said Ezra Mersey, owner of Jackson Pacific. “Given that level of confidence, and the fact that we’re in a cyclical economy, sometimes the bottom of a cycle is the best time to start a new project.” More new apartments, condos built in March James Temple | San Francisco Chronicle

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