by Calculated Risk on 7/17/2011 12:03:00 PM

From Roger Vincent at the LA Times: Apartments are the development du jour among builders

If you see a building under construction, it's most likely an apartment complex.
...
Homeownership goes in and out of favor, UCLA professor Stuart Gabriel said, and now it's in decline.

"The pendulum swings back and forth a bit," Gabriel said. "Homeownership is not dead, it's just in a period of adjustment."

Least popular are homes in remote "exurbs" far from cities, he said. With gasoline prices at sustained highs, many people want to be closer to their jobs in urban centers where the most affordable housing is often apartments.

Demographics and generational trends are also working in favor of apartments. Many renters in their 20s and 30s are delaying marriage and childbearing ... and cherish the mobility to move where their careers take them. Other young people who have moved back home with their parents or doubled up with friends can be expected to rent their own apartments when they get jobs or feel more secure about their employment.
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Permits to build nearly 1,000 apartments were issued in May in the city of Los Angeles, the most since November 2008, the Construction Industry Research Board said.

The pickup in apartment construction is one of the few bright spots for construction employment and residential investment. If there was an increase in housing starts in June, the increase was probably from multi-family starts. (June housing starts will be released on Tuesday).

It is important to note that even with a strong increase in multi-family construction, it is from a very low level, and multi-family is a small part of residential investment (RI).

However - don't expect much new office construction any time soon, from the LA Times: It's still an office tenant's market in the Southland