Finding And Explaining "Underbuilt" Residential Construction Markets

Of our 153 metropolitan areas, the median number of permits per thousand population per year over the study period (1980 to 1993) was 5.8. However there was a large amount of variation in this data. Las Vegas had slightly over 22 permits per thousand, as did Ft. Myers, Florida. West Palm Beach had about 21 permits per thousand, Orlando 18.5 permits per thousand, and Melbourne 16.4 permits per thousand. At the other end of the spectrum, Great Falls and Charleston had only slightly over 1 permit per thousand over the period. New York (1.5 permits per thousand), Jersey City (1.8 permits per thousand), and Peoria (1.9 permits per thousand) were among other metropolitan areas with very low levels of housing activity.