Big Apple still booming

Big Apple still booming

Building pace at 30-year high



By GREG WILSON

Published : April 19th 2007 / New York Daily News



The city is in the midst of its biggest residential building boom in three decades and the local economy is on a roll too, according to a report issued yesterday.



Permits for a total of 62,526 new housing units were issued in 2005 and 2006, the highest two-year total since 1971-72, according to the study from City Controller William Thompson. And permits were still being issued at a strong clip as 2007 began, the report said.



"Despite the unsettled housing and mortgage markets, we do not anticipate a recession during 2007," the controller said in his quarterly "Economic Notes" publication. "The economy, however, has entered a period of heightened uncertainty, and fiscal planners will need to monitor future economic data carefully."



John Gallagher, spokesman for the Bloomberg administration, said the figures show people are flocking to the city - and staying. "We know that is happening because of policies that have resulted in lower crime, better schools and historically low unemployment rates," Gallagher said.



Thompson's report also said the overall city economy grew 3.6% in 2006.



The report also noted:



-The city added 62,200 jobs in 2006, the most in six years.

-The unemployment rate fell to 4.4% in the fourth quarter of last year, its lowest in 36 years.

-The vacancy rate for Manhattan commercial property fell to 6.7%, the lowest since 2001, Cushman & Wakefield said.

-The average commercial rent in Manhattan rose to $50.56 per square foot at the end of 2006.