New Haven, Stamford see strong growth in new housing activity

Winds on Wednesday night blew portions of the third floor of a residential apartment building, The Audubon, under construction onto the street at the corner of Audubon and State Streets. Winds on Wednesday night blew portions of the third floor of a residential apartment building, The Audubon, under construction onto the street at the corner of Audubon and State Streets. Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close New Haven, Stamford see strong growth in new housing activity 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Connecticut’s new housing economy finished 2019 with a flourish, with a 16.9 percent increase in the number units that were issued permits compared to December 2018, Department of Economic and Community Development officials said

There were 435 housing units issued permits in December, which resulted in the state’s new housing economy finishing 2019 with 5,097 units approved. That’s the largest number of permits issued since 2015.

The 435 units issued permits last month also was the largest number for a December since 2012, when 524 were approved.

New Haven led all 104 communities that report housing permits issued on a monthly basis, with 199 units approved. The city finished 2019 with 699 units issued permits, a 51.9 percent increase over the number approved in 2018.

Milford and Prospect were tied for second in terms of the next-highest number of permits issued in December in New Haven County, with each issuing permits for 19 units of new housing.

Milford finished 2019 with 195 new units approved, a 15.3 percent increase over 2018.

Stamford had the largest number of new housing units approved last year with 1,087. That was more than 10 times the number of new permits issued in that city in 2018.

The bulk of the new housing activity came in apartment buildings with five or more units, which accounted for 71.4 percent of the permits issued. For all of last year, apartment buildings with five or more units represented 59.4 percent of all permit activity.

Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research for New Haven-based DataCore Partners, said he was surprised by the volume of new permit activity.

“We’re seeing a shifting of the marketplace,” Klepper-Smith said. “The demand for flexible housing is increasingly attractive in an economy that is uncertain. More people don’t want the obligations that come with single-family home ownership.”

New housing activity is considered a leading indicator of future economic activity because it results in the purchase of durable goods such as new furniture, televisions and washers and dryers. But Klepper-Smith said moving from a single-family home to an apartment doesn’t necessarily negate the need to purchase durable goods.

“Downsizing means you have to reconfigure your needs,” he said. “Often that means that the big-screen television set you had in a single-family home doesn’t fit into the smaller place you moved into.”

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com