New Housing Starts Reveal Shift Toward Multi-Family Housing Construction

The Anderson Forecast explains that the upswing in multi-family construction is a result of a younger clientele that "prefers urban-style apartment and condo living." It sees no increase in demand for single family home construction.

"What we've seen is this shift toward multifamily housing demand," said the forecast's author, Jerry Nickelsburg. "You can see that in the demographics."

While single-family and multi-family dwellings both fell 20 percent in mid-2009 from 2006, the latter "recovered to about 40 percent of their peak level, while single-family permits continue to decline, the report said." Similar results appear nation-wide, according to AP.

Joel Kotkin disputes the report's findings.

"Most of the growth in California has been in places with single family homes. Doesn't that tell us something about what people want?" he said.