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Demand for new U.S. homes rose more than forecast in April, indicating residential real estate may contribute to economic growth for the first time in seven years.

Purchases rose to a 343,000 annual rate, up 3.3 percent from a revised 332,000 in March, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 72 economists was 335,000. Data yesterday showed April sales of previously owned homes rose in every region.

“It’s very clear now that the housing market has turned a corner,” said Richard DeKaser, deputy chief economist at Parthenon Group LLC in Boston, who projected sales would increase to a 339,000 pace. “The only question is how strong the rebound is going to be. It bodes well for the broader economy.”

Job growth, improving affordability and record-low interest rates are helping propel sales at builders such as Toll Brothers Inc. At the same time, some banks remain reluctant to lend and foreclosures continue to move through the system, signaling a sustained housing recovery will take time to take hold. …………………….….……….. In another sign the U.S. housing market is gaining traction, a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency today showed home prices rose 2.7 percent in the 12 months through March, the biggest year-over-year gain since November 2006. Values increased in every region, led by a 4 percent jump in the area that includes Texas and Louisiana.

Bloomberg survey estimates for new-home sales, which are logged when contracts are signed, ranged from 325,000 to 375,000. The Commerce Department revised the March reading up from a previously estimated 328,000.

The median sales price increased 4.9 percent from the same month last year, to $235,700, today’s report showed.

Purchases rose in three of four U.S. regions last month, led by 28 percent gains in both the Midwest and West. The South was the only area to show a decline, falling 11 percent.

The number of newly constructed houses on the market rose to 146,000 from 144,000 in March, which was the fewest reported in data going back to 1963. It was the first increase in inventory since April 2007.

Because the rate of sales climbed faster than inventory, the supply of new houses on the market dropped to 5.1 months’ worth from 5.2 months in March.

Demand for new houses peaked at 1.28 million in 2005 during the housing boom, then fell to 306,000 in 2011, the lowest in records dating back to 1963.

Newly constructed houses made up 6.7 percent of the residential market last year, down from a high of 15 percent during the boom of the past decade. Some buyers are taking advantage of the large inventory and affordability of previously owned homes.

Existing Houses

Sales of those existing homes, tabulated when a contract closes, increased 3.4 percent to a 4.62 million annual rate in April, just shy of the 4.63 million in January that was the highest in almost two years, the National Association of Realtors reported earlier this week. Resales could rise to a 4.6 million to 4.7 million range this year, the group projected, from 4.26 million in 2011.

Builder confidence rose to a five-year high in May, with the National Association of Homebuilders/Well Fargo sentiment gauge rising to 29. The measure had been as low as 14 in September. A measure of sales expectations for the next six months rose to 34 from a revised 31, and the gauge of buyer traffic increased to 23, the highest since April 2007, homebuilders reported earlier this month.

Toll Brothers (TOL), the largest U.S. luxury-home builder, today reported a second-quarter profit that beat estimates as sales and orders increased amid improving demand for the company’s move-up houses. Toll’s homes are marketed to wealthier buyers with easier access to cash and credit. Bookings jumped 47 percent from a year earlier to 1,290 homes.

Market Strengthening

“It appears that the housing market has moved into a new and stronger phase of recovery,” Chief Executive Officer Douglas Yearley said in a statement. “The spring selling season has been the most robust and sustained since the downturn began.”

Builders broke ground on more homes than anticipated in April, a Commerce Department report showed earlier this month. Housing starts rose 2.6 percent to a 717,000 annual rate.

The last time residential construction contributed to economic growth was in 2005, when it accounted for 0.4 percentage point of the 3.1 percent increase in gross domestic product. From 2006 through 2009, the homebuilding slump subtracted 0.8 percent point from growth on average. The declines diminished over the past two years.

Lower borrowing costs are helping underpin demand. The average cost of a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.79 percent last week, an all-time low, according to a Freddie Mac survey of lenders.

Reported by Bloomberg (05/23/2012)

Peninsula Publishing and Builder & Developer magazine have published the results for the 2011 Building Products Brand Survey. These are the products most preferred by the readers of Builder and Developer, Options For Today’s Fine Homes, 50+ Builder, Residential Contractor, Green Home Builder magazines and Builder Bytes. Subscribers were polled continuously in print and online during 2011.

Top Brands:

 

Appliances – Dishwashers/ Ranges/ Cooktops Whirlpool www.whirlpool.com			Doors – Patio Andersen www.andersenwindows.com
Appliances – Refrigerators/ Microwaves GE Appliances www.geappliances.com			Door Hardware Schlage www.schlage.com
Cabinets KraftMaid www.kraftmaid.com			Engineered Wood Trus Joist www.ilevel.com
Central Vacuum Electrolux www.electroluxcentralvac.com			Faucets Kohler www.us.kohler.com
Closet/Organization Systems California Closets www.californiaclosets.com			Finance/Title Bank of America www.bankofamerica.com
Countertops – Quartz Caeserstone www.caeserstoneus.com			Fireplaces – Gas Heat-N-Glo www.heatnglo.com
Countertops – Solid Surface Dupont Corian www.corian.com			Fireplaces – Wood Heatilator www.hearthnhome.com
Countertops – Laminate Formica www.formica.com			Flooring – Carpet Mohawk www.mohawkflooring.com
Decking Trex www.trex.com			Flooring – Vinyl/Laminate Armstrong www.armstrong.com
Deck Fasteners Simpson Strong Tie www.strongtie.com			Flooring – Wood Lumber Liquidators www.lumberliquidators.com
Doors – Exterior Jeld-Wen www.jeld-wen.com			Garage Cabinets Gladiator www.gladiatorgarageworks.com
Garage Door Overhead Door www.overheaddoor.com			Roof Vents O’Hagins www.ohaginvent.com
Housewrap Dupont/Tyvek www.weatherizationpartners.com			Siding Certain Teed www.certainteed.com
HVAC Carrier www.carrier.com			Siding – Wood LP Products www.lpcorp.com
ICFs Eco-Block www.eco-block.com			SIPs EnerGreen energreensips.com
Insulation Owens Corning www.owenscorning.com			Software AutoDesk usa.autodesk.com
Insulation — Radiant Barrier LP Techshield www.lpcorp.com			Solar Sun Power www.sunpowercorp.com
Lighting Fixtures Philips www.usa.philips.com			Spray Foam Insulation Icynene www.icynene.com
Manufactured Stone Eldorado Stone www.eldoradostone.com			Stucco LaHabra www.lahabra.com
Millwork Royal Mouldings Limited www.royalbuildingproducts.com			Tile – Ceramic Daltile www.daltile.com
Molding White River www.whiteriver.com			Tools – Pneumatic DeWalt www.dewalt.com
Paints Sherwin-Williams www.sherwin-williams.com			Tools – Powers Craftsman www.craftsman.com
Pavers Belgard www.belgard.biz			Trucks Ford www.ford.com
Retaining Walls Keystone www.keystonewalls.com			Water Heaters Rheem www.rheem.com
Roofing – Asphalt Owens-Corning www.owenscorning.com			Windows – Wood Andersen www.andersenwindows.com
Roofing – Tile Eagle www.eagleroofing.com			Windows – Vinyl Milgard www.milgard.com

Reported by Builder & Developer (05/24/2012)

After two months of declines, existing-home sales moved upward in April, improving 3.4% from March’s level and 10% annually to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million, according to data released today by the National Association of Realtors. Improvements were seen in all four regions, and across housing types, with condo/co-op sales gaining 6.0% and single-family sales improving 3.0%.

However, the real star of the report was pricing. Among single-family homes, both median and average prices made record-setting jumps, gaining 7.8% and 6.5%, respectively. All four regions logged improvements, led by the Northeast’s 11.5% gain from March’s level.

What triggered the price jump remains uncertain, says Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight. "Some recent housing reports have shown home prices stabilizing. But none has shown prices suddenly taking off. Home prices can shoot up, among other reasons, if demand picks up sharply, if the proportion of distressed sales drops sharply, if the proportion of more expensive homes sold rises sharply, or some combination of these. Without more information than contained in the report, however, it is impossible to tell what drove home prices up last month."

In keeping with annual trends, total housing inventory also sprang up in April, gaining 9.5% from the previous month to 2.54 million existing homes available—a 6.6-month supply. If seasonal factors are taken into account, however, inventory declined to a 6.3-month supply in April, from a 6.5-month supply the previous month.

Newport forecasts existing-home sales will improve by 10% this year to 4.71 million units.

Reported by Builderonline (05/23/12)

When the St. Joe Co., dominating real estate developer and land owner in the Florida Panhandle, decided to pull back and hibernate in the tough economy, nobody thought any mega-projects were forming in that part of the state.

Wrong. State and local officials have approved a 562,000-acre master plan -- timberland roughly the size of Rhode Island -- encompassing gulf coast frontage touching five counties. It's not St. Joe's but rather a parcel owned by some high-profile business types and former diplomats. Their goal: 25,000 new homes and more than 10 million square feet of commercial and industrial office space.

The owners, identified in this small item in the Wall Street Journal, include Howard Leach, former U.S. ambassador to France, and Los Angeles investor Robert Day, who reportedly together bought the land in 1994 from Procter & Gamble. Now the ownership group's grown with the additions of former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone.

Leach is a California billionaire who was appointed ambassador to France after a $400,000 donation to George W. Bush's presidential campaign. He's run multiple companies including one called Foley Timber and Land Company in Florida.

Day, also a billionaire, founded Trust Co. of the West and sold a majority stake of it in 2001 to Societe Generale for $2.5 billion, according to this Forbes article.

It doesn't sound like this project is about to leap out of the ground. But none of these guys (Kissinger is, after all, turning 89 this month) are youngsters. And they just might give St. Joe some unexpected competition.

Reported by Tampa Bay Times (05/16/2012)

Housing starts and industrial production exceeded forecasts in April, pointing to strength in the U.S. economy at the start of the second quarter.

Starts rose 2.6 percent to a 717,000 annual rate from March’s revised 699,000 pace that was stronger than previously reported, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Industrial production climbed 1.1 percent, the most since December 2010, the Federal Reserve said.

The reports indicate the world’s largest economy is withstanding the fallout from the European debt crisis. Borrowing costs kept low by the Fed and labor-market gains are spurring consumer demand for autos and housing, lifting sales at companies from PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) to Chrysler Group LLC.

“The improvement in housing is more noticeable now, and manufacturing is pretty solid,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York. “It makes the expansion more resilient. Europe is affecting U.S. business sentiment more than it is impacting U.S. economic data.”

Stocks declined as concern about Greece's debt crisis is worsening offset the better-than-projected U.S. data. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.4 percent to 1,324.8 at the close in New York. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.76 percent from 1.77 percent late yesterday..............

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Building Permits

Building permits decreased 7 percent to a 715,000 annual pace last month from 769,000 in March, which was the fastest since September 2008, today’s report showed.

Construction of single-family houses climbed 2.3 percent to a three-month high 492,000 rate from 481,000 the prior month.

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based PulteGroup said orders rose 15 percent to 4,991 homes in its first quarter. Backlogs increased 12 percent to 5,798 homes at the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue.

“It was the first quarter in several years that fundamental demand came in stronger than expected,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Dugas said during a conference call with analysts. “We are pleased with how the year has started off, including a continuation of better sales activity thus far in April.”

Work on multifamily homes, such as townhouses and apartment buildings, increased 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 225,000, today’s Commerce Department report showed.

South and Midwest

Two of four regions had an increase in overall starts, reflecting an 11.6 percent gain in the South and a 6.7 percent rise in the Midwest.

The outlook for residential real estate is improving, figures signaled yesterday. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence jumped to a five-year high, the Washington-based group reported.

Borrowing costs remain attractive. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to an all-time low of 3.83 percent in the week ended May 10, according to data from Freddie Mac going back to 1971. The average 15-year rate dropped to 3.05 percent, also the lowest ever, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company said.

A housing affordability index that’s based on a combination of resale prices, household income and mortgage rates reached an all-time high in the first quarter, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday.

Bank Lending

Building is accelerating in the U.S. Southeast region, which has lagged behind the recovery the past three years. New construction of condominiums in Miami is helping, according to SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) Chief Executive Officer William Rogers. Housing in the Nashville, Tenn., and Washington markets is “back on the upswing,” while Marco Island and Sarasota, Fla., “are showing improvement,” he said.

“We are starting to see some traction,” he said in an interview in Atlanta, where the lender is based. “In housing, things are stabilizing to stabilized.”

Builders still have to contend with a stream of distressed houses returning to the market, adding to inventory and pushing prices lower.

Foreclosures and tight credit markets remain a constraint on housing, Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke said in a speech yesterday in Washington.

While still-elevated foreclosures are “indicative of a historic level of homeowner stress,” she said, “there are signs that further gradual improvement may lie ahead.”

There are “some promising signs in the trend of house prices as well” and “somewhat encouraging” indicators of housing construction activity, Duke said.

Reported by Bloomberg (05/16/2012)

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes gained five points in May from a downwardly revised reading in the previous month to reach a level of 29 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. This is the index’s strongest reading since May of 2007.

“Builders in many markets are reporting that buyer traffic and sales have picked back up after a pause this April,” said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “It seems we have resumed the gradual upward trend in confidence that started at the beginning of this year, as stabilizing prices and excellent affordability encourage more people to pursue a new-home purchase.” 

“While home building still has quite a way to go toward a fully healthy market, the fact that the HMI has returned to trend is an excellent sign that firming home values, improving employment and low mortgage rates are drawing consumers back,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The pace of this emerging recovery could be stronger were it not for the significant impediments that the market continues to face with regard to builder and consumer access to credit, inaccurate appraisals, and more recently, rising materials prices.”

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 25 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

Each of the index’s components rebounded from declines in the previous month. The component gauging current sales conditions and the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers each rose five points in May to 30 and 23, respectively, with the traffic component hitting its highest level since April of 2007. The component gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose three points to 34.

Three out of four regions registered improving builder sentiment in May. This included a six-point gain to 32 in the Northeast, and five-point gains to 27 and 28 in the Midwest and South, respectively. The West posted a two-point decline, to 29.

Reported by NAHB (05/15/2012)

Permits to construct new homes rose 15.3% in April from the same month a year ago in Wisconsin's most-populated areas.

There were 286 building permits issued for single-family homes and duplexes in the Greater Milwaukee area, Dane County, the Green Bay-Door County area, the Fox Valley and Racine-Kenosha market last month, up from 248 in April of 2011, according to Oshkosh-based MTD Marketing Services of Wisconsin Inc.

Through April in the five biggest metro areas, housing permits are up about 11% this year, to 854 from 769.

MTD's Dominic Collar said all areas of Wisconsin saw an increase in home-building permits from April a year ago, except the Greater Milwaukee area, where permits fell to 69 from 71.

The reasons for the overall pickup in permits in the state: "A combination of great weather, low interest rates and larger builders starting more spec homes," Collar said.

Permits rose to 81 from 66 in Dane County, to 54 from 42 in the Green Bay-Door County area, to 55 from 50 in the Fox Valley and to 27 from 19 in the Racine-Kenosha area.

Existing Home Sales Also Continue to Increase

Dane County's housing market for existing home sales also is starting to show real signs of life.

Existing home and condo sales in April were up 16.7 percent compared with a year ago. That makes 10 straight months of sales volume equal to or exceeding the previous year.

And median sales price — for the first time in 10 months — also rose year over year, by 5 percent.

"It is too soon to declare that prices have turned," said Kevin King, executive vice president of the South Central Wisconsin MLS. "(But) our expectations for the housing market have been greatly exceeded through the first four months of 2012."

In an interview, King said the pace of sales in April puts Dane County's market "pretty close" to recovering from the crash, with an annualized pace of 5,500 to 6,000 sales. He described that as "about the norm, given our population. It's very encouraging."

There were 490 Dane County sales in April, up from 420 in April 2011, according to MLS sales figures released Monday.

Median price in Dane County was $205,000, compared with $194,250 in April 2011 and $195,000 in April 2010. April's price increase was the first in the local market since June 2011.

Combined reports from Wisconsin State Journal & Chicago Tribune (05/14/2013 & 05/10/2012)

After years of large declines, the housing market is showing signs of stabilization. In the fourth quarter of 2011, home prices in 70 markets, representing 18 percent of the 384 metro areas tracked by Fiserv Case-Shiller, were unchanged or had increased compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. In 32 percent of the markets (122 metro areas), the price declines were under two percent. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the average price of a U.S. single-family home fell to a new post-bubble low, declining four percent from the year-ago period. Fiserv Case-Shiller projects a further modest decline of 0.8 percent by the end of 2012.

Markets rebounding off very large price declines include Detroit, Mich. (+9.8 percent), Cape Coral, Fla. (+3.5 percent) and Port St. Lucie, Fla. (+1.1 percent). However, prices dropped by more than two percent in nearly one-half of metro areas (191), including double-digit decreases in Atlanta (-12.8 percent), Reno, Nev. (-10.8 percent) and Tucson, Ariz. (-10 percent).

"The year-over-year decline in average home prices does not tell the full story of stabilization and recovery. Nearly all non-price metrics — existing home sales, rising home order volumes, increased spending on home improvement, a jump in multi-family construction — indicate that the housing sector hit bottom last year and has started along a path of slow recovery. The recovery this spring and summer will be driven by investors, who buy primarily in lower-cost markets. In the current environment, focusing on mortgage applications is not a true indicator of sales activity, as investors are less likely to finance home purchases via mortgages," says David Stiff, chief economist, Fiserv. "We expect that home prices, which generally lag changes in sales activity by nine to 12 months, will stabilize by the end of this summer and then rise at an annualized rate of 3.9 percent over the next five years."

When home prices finally hit bottom later this year, they will be 35 percent lower than their peak level in the first quarter of 2006. Due to this unprecedented decline and record-low mortgage rates, affordability has improved dramatically. The relationship between home prices and rents has returned to 1998 levels. The ratio of median single-family home price to median family income is lower than any time since 1991. For a conventional mortgage, the payment for a median-priced home represents just 12 percent of median-family income, the lowest percentage on record (since 1971). Fiserv Case Shiller projects this record-level affordability will eventually bring more first-time and trade-up buyers back into the housing market, especially as apartment rents continue to increase and new households are formed, making buying a cheaper option than renting. Growing demand from first-time and trade-up buyers will finally put a floor under home prices, ending the nearly seven-year collapse of the housing bubble.

"The precipitous drop in home prices was an immediate cause of the last recession and the financial crisis. Falling home equity has cut into household consumption and has further constrained the economic recovery," Stiff added. "However, very low prices have also started to draw in more buyers. As demand for houses ramps up, construction activity will increase and residential investment will begin to make a substantial contribution to the recovery and GDP overall."

Other highlights from the latest Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes include:

• Some of the hardest-hit markets are expected to experience the fastest growth during the recovery. Six of the 10 markets where annualized prices are expected to rise the most over the next five years have experienced price declines of more than 50 percent from their peaks.


• Conversely, home prices in markets that were spared the worst of the housing downturn are projected to grow at a slower pace. Texas, for example, accounts for 11 of the 39 markets where prices are projected to increase at an annualized 1.5 percent or less over the next five years.

• Of the 30 best-performing housing markets in the 2011 fourth quarter, 13 had unemployment rates of seven percent or less and 14 had a median family income above the national average.


• Seven of the 10 worst-performing markets in 2011 had unemployment rates higher than the national average and median family incomes below the national average.


• Twenty-two of the 25 markets that have seen the largest decline in home prices from peak to the end of 2011 are in California and Florida.

Toll Brothers has added construction personnel in several divisions, capping a busy week for personnel moves in the homebuilding industry.  Matthew Zeigler moved from ForeverHome  to the role of Construction Management in the Raleigh-Durham division of Toll.  Michael Emanuel is a new Project Manager in the Charlotte division, moving over from Orleans. Matthew Bennecoff joins Toll as Assistant Project Manager in the Philadelphia market, moving from Madison Marquette, and Michael Rodger is the new Director of Aerial Mapping in the corporate office.

Taylor Morrison is beefing up its land positions with two new appointments. Greg Abrams is the new Director of Land Resources in the Phoenix area and Mike Liquori joins the company as Land Acquisitions Manager in Orlando. Abrams was formerly with Pulte, while Liquori moved from KB Home.

Pulte Group appointed Ann Ivey as General Sales Manager in Charleston. She was previously Director of Sales at Lennar. Daniel Puvak is the new Zone Product Manager for Pulte in Georgia, previously serving as CAD Tech for the builder. And Jessica Uzee is the new Home Expressions Studio Coordinator in Pulte’s Phoenix Division.

On the Sales & Marketing front, Colleen Whalen is a new Sales Consultant for K. Hovnanian in Chalfont, Pa., while Katie Einselen is a new Sales Counselor at KB Home in the Tampa area. Salvatore Salamone joins Lennar as New Home Consultant in Miami. Brian Batten is now Sales Manager in Richmond, Texas for LGI Homes, while David Mitchell joins LGI as New Home Consultant in the Dallas market. Suzanne Haughwout is now a Sales Consultant with Maronda Homes in Rockledge Fla.  Brook Williams joins Meritage Homes as Sales Counselor in Raleigh-Durham.

In other moves around the country:

Lorelei DeRuiter joines Beazer Homes as General Sales Manager in Atlanta. She was previously with Prudential.

Greg Golick is a new VP in the Orange County, Calif. area for Camden Property Trust.

Travis Reynolds has joined Caviness and Cates as Estimator in Raleigh-Durham.

Ben Browning is the new Controller at Cheldan Homes in the Dallas area.

Chuck Niesner has joined David Weekley Homes as a Builder in Houston, moving from Highland Homes.

Mitchell Newman is the new Division President for DR Horton in Philadelphia, moving from the position of SVP with the company.

Ian Fleck is now a New Home Specialist with Eagle Construction of Virginia, previously in Sales & Marketing with Royal Dominion Homes.

Robyn Drake has joined Gehan Homes as a Sales Professional  in Houston, moving from Pulte.

Alan Gremillion is now Contracts Manager at GL Homes in Ft. Lauderdale, previously with Minto Communities.

Tyler McIntyre joins Hubble Homes in Boise in the Estimating/Customer Service department.

Andie Patton joins the Sales & Marketing team for ICI Homes in Jacksonville, Fla.. He was previously with Mattamy Homes.

Ken Gillett is the new SVP Operations for Irvine Company in the Los Angeles market, moving from Macerich.

Gary Clark joins the Purchasing Department of Lennar in Portland, Ore. He was previously with Holt Homes.

Tom Prior is the new Land Development Manager for M/I Homes of Cincinnati.

Joshua Balamuta joins NVR as Sr. Internal Auditor in the Washington, D.C. area.

Wes Major is now Product Development Manager at Ryland Homes in Houston. He was previously with David Weekley Homes.

Angela Stern joins Sares-Regis Group in the Lease Admin. Department in San Francisco.

Randy Patterson is now Assistant Project Manager at Sares-Regis in Los Angeles.

Priscilla Atwood joins Scott Felder Homes in Austin in the Building Starts Department.

Manhattan is starting to shake off its construction doldrums and could see the first flurry of building activity since the recession, according to the city's Department of Buildings.

Manhattan experienced a 169% spike in new building permits issued so far this year, according to the buildings department, which issued 35 permits for construction including hotels, apartment buildings, an "affordable housing" development and an art gallery in the first four months of 2012. That is up from 13 in the same period last year.

"We are bullish that big building is coming back to New York City," the buildings commissioner, Robert LiMandri, said in an interview.

Manhattan new-building permits issued so far this year are still below 2008 levels, when 42 permits were issued in the first four months of the year.

But the latest spike in permits reflects developers' growing confidence in certain sectors, especially demand for rental housing and hotels, even while demand for office space lags.

Some developers receiving permits this year have been able to get loans already and, in some cases, have already broken ground. They include the Brodsky Organization on a new condo on 79th Street and Barone Management on two Gene Kaufman-designed hotels in Hudson Square.

"It certainly seems like there's more cranes in the air today. I actually know the answer and there are," Mr. LiMandri said.

Much of the latest activity is concentrated in the Hudson Yards area and Harlem—two areas that were poised for change during the previous boom but were also hit hard when the economy collapsed in 2008.

"In four or five months, you're going to see [neighborhoods] taking shape," Mr. LiMandri said.

Six building permits were issued on the far West Side in the 20s and 30s, as developers look to take advantage of the opening of the second phase of High Line elevated park, the extension of the No. 7 subway line and the planned office development by Related Cos. on the former rail yards west of 10th Avenue between 30th and 33rd streets.

Related has committed to start the first building on the Hudson Yards with Coach Inc. as its anchor tenant later this year. But the developer has already received a permit this year for its roughly 378,000-square-foot residential project nearby at 500 W. 30th St.

The flurry of new development permits comes at a time of economic uncertainty, caused by turmoil in Europe, the coming U.S. elections and layoffs in the financial-services industry. But developers say they're moving forward anyway because a lack of new construction has created significant pent-up demand for housing.

"We feel that the market is very good right now and ripe for new condominium projects," said Michael Namer, chief executive of Alfa Development. "We do know that there's a spike [in development], but it's a spike from zero."

Alfa has broken ground on a 51-unit condo project on 21st Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, where it plans to launch sales May 17.

Sales have been strong at a handful of new condos in the area, including the Brodsky Organization's project at 422 W. 20th St. and a new condo building by Anbau Enterprises on 23rd Street.

Both real-estate and construction industry associations say their members are busier these days.

"It's a dramatic increase from what has occurred over the last year or two," said Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association. But, in a reversal, he said, "The private sector is beginning to get out of the doldrums, at a time when city and state agencies don't have enough money."

Michael Slattery, a senior vice president at the Real Estate Board of New York, a real-estate industry association and lobbying group, said its data also show that permits for new residential units doubled in the first three months of 2012 compared with the year-earlier period.

"There is pickup in the market on the housing side. There's been so little production that demand is starting to press people to build again," Mr. Slattery said, while also cautioning it remains well below 2006 and 2007.

For now, experts say there is little chance of nearing boom-time construction levels because banks are unwilling to give large loans on new projects.

Nonetheless, Mr. LiMandri said he is confident construction activity is on the upswing.

In Manhattan, demolition permits issued by his department —an earlier indicator of precursor of new development than building permits—are also up significantly in the first four months this year: to 74 from a five-year low of 35 in 2010.

Reported by Wall Street Journal (05/07/2012)