Building Permits Down 5% in City
By Special to the Sun | February 15, 2007
Building permits in the city were down 5% in the third quarter of 2006, representing a slight decline in the citywide construction boom. The numbers were released yesterday in Mayor Bloomberg's preliminary management report. The number of building permits is often seen as a gauge of the strength of the housing market, though city officials said the dropoff, based only on the first four months of the 2007 fiscal year, which began in July, could change in the coming months. The city saw 24,612 permits filed from July through October, a figure that includes filings for both buildings and renovations, compared with 25,911 filings a year earlier. The greatest sign of a weakening market was a drop off in permits for new buildings.
