February 2008 Monthly Analysis > Construction

CONSTRUCTION PERMITS

The following two charts of residential and non-residential permit values issued in each of the Bay Area's regions since January 2005 provide a quick, comparative view of activity.

Between December 2007 and January 2008, changes in the dollar value of residential construction permits issued in Bay Area regions were varied. The East Bay saw a decline of $88 million while the San Francisco and San Jose areas saw increases of of $56 million and $5 million, respectively. The Napa and Vallejo-Fairfield areas posted losses of $2 and $14 million, respectively. On a year-over-year basis, the East Bay declined $59 million while the San Francisco area showed a $101 million dollar increase. The Vallejo-Fairfield region declined $58 million, while the San Francisco and Napa regions were virtually unchanged in the comparison.

In January, the East Bay showed a modest increase of $8 million in non-residential permits when compared with December 2007. The Napa and Vallejo-Fairfield regions also posted increases, gaining $15 and $86 million, respectively, between December 2007 and January 2008. The San Francisco and San Jose regions saw losses of $7 and $10 million, respectively. In a year-over-year comparison with January 2007 the East Bay gained $31 million, San Francisco gained $48 million, and the Vallejo-Fairfield and Napa regions gained $53 and $92 million, respectively. San Jose was the only region to post losses, where permit values dropped roughly $6 million under the January 2007 amount.  

12-MONTH ANALYSIS OF CONSTRUCTION PERMITS

 The following tables and graphs compare the 12-month periods of February 2006 – January 2007 and February 2007 – January 2008. This method provides a year-over-year comparison and can be less volatile than the month-over-month comparison in the previous section (used to show a historic overview of construction permit values).

In a comparison of these two twelve- month periods, the East Bay showed a decrease in construction permit values, falling 14.0 percent ($586.5 million) from the previous period. While the Vallejo-Fairfield Area saw a decline of 23.6 percent, the actual dollar amount of the decline was lower at $331.1 million. The Napa region saw an increase of $177 million in this comparison, while the San Francisco and San Jose posted increases as well.

RESIDENTIAL & NON-RESIDENTIAL PERMITS

When comparing the two previous 12-month periods of February 2006 – January 2007 and February 2007 – January 2008, the San Francisco region was the only MSA to see an increase in the dollar value of residential permits issued. The steepest decline in this comparison of residential permit values was in the East Bay region, where residential permit values fell over 24 percent. With the exception of the Vallejo-Fairfield region, total non-residential (commercial, industrial and institutional) permit values increased around the Bay Area, with the largest increase in the San Jose region.

Non-residential permit values continued to outpace residential permit values as all areas but Vallejo-Fairfield issued larger dollar amounts than in the previous 12-month period.

NON-RESIDENTIAL -- COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL

In a comparison of commercial and industrial construction permits issued during the same two 12-month periods, the dollar value of commercial permits issued in the East Bay was virtually unchanged when compared to the previous period. In the Napa, San Francisco and San Jose regions, larger increases in commercial permit values occurred, with these regions seeing increases of $95, $97, and $269 million, respectively. Industrial permit values jumped $37 million in the East Bay region, and increased over $52 million in Napa, while the San Francisco region saw a steep decrease of $177 million in the second 12-month period.

SINGLE & MULTI-FAMILY PERMITS

With the exception of the moderate increase in residential permits seen in the San Francisco region, all Bay Area regions saw declines when compared with the previous 12-month period. The East Bay’s drop from over 5,000 multi-family unit permits in the 2006-2007 period to just under 2,800 multi-family permits in the 2007-2008 period was the most dramatic of the declines.

EAST BAY CONSTRUCTION

The following tables examine these permit categories for the same comparative time periods for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

When compared with the twelve-month period ending in 2007, Alameda County continued to see non-residential permits increase, with Industrial construction making up the lion’s share of this increase. Residential permits in Alameda County continued to decrease dramatically. In the same comparison, Contra Costa County residential and commercial permit values declined, while industrial permits advanced 20.5 percent over the previous period.

The slowing of the housing market was visible in the declines in both single and multi-family construction permits issued over the past twelve months. In this comparison, multi-family construction in Alameda County was hardest hit, dropping over 53 percent when compared with the previous period.

The following charts show the number and value of single, multi-family, residential and non-residential construction permits issued in East Bay cities for the twelve-month period ending January 2008.

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