Through July of 1999, total housing permits issued in four of last year's top 15 metropolitan areas for new housing were below the toal for the first seven months of 1998.
Oct. 1, 1999
Through July of 1999, total housing permits issued in four of last year’s top 15 metropolitan areas for new housing were below the total for the first seven months of 1998. The decline was particularly steep in the Houston (-24.1%) and Las Vegas (-14.6%) metropolitan areas, with declines of a much smaller magnitude being recorded in Detroit and Dallas. Last year’s top two areas--Atlanta and Phoenix--continued their solid annual growth, although at rates somewhat more subdued than in 1997 and 1998.