Irvine, CA, Aug. 13—U.S. Housing Markets, published by Meyers Group, has just released its second quarter flash report, reporting single family construction is up 3% this year to near record levels.

Permit offices continued to be busy in the second quarter, as builders almost broke 1999's second quarter single family permit record. In the second quarter, issuing 352,010 single family permits—only 6,156 permits short of the record. The second quarter's permits represent a 6% increase over the second quarter of last year. Year to date, U.S. Single family permits are 3% ahead of last year and less than one half percent behind 1999's record pace.

Eight metropolitan areas (MSAs or PMSAs) broke the 10,000 unit single family permit barrier during the first six months of this year. With 26,735 SF permits recorded during the first six months, Atlanta is the largest SF housing market in the country. Phoenix (19,156 SF permits), Washington (15,023), Chicago (14,075), Dallas (14,002), Houston (13,266), Las Vegas (12,261) and Riverside-San Bernardino (11,707) are the other seven markets.

Riverside-San Bernardino is one of the fastest growing housing markets in the country, with SF permits up 29% over the first six months of last year. Single family construction, however, is more than 40% below 1988's pace, when a record 43,197 SF permits were recorded for the entire year.

Multifamily construction remains very steady. Builders recorded 97,816 permits this quarter, which marks the fifth year in a row that second quarter MF permits have ranged between 96,000 and 100,000 units. Year to date MF permits are up 7% in the West (despite declines in California, Oregon and Washington) and 4% in the South, while MF permits are down 6% in the Midwest and 3% in the Northeast.

According to John Burns, vice president of online published research at Meyers Group and the study's author,