Even with the housing slow down, the cost of building a new apartment building continues to rise -- due to increasing prices for materials and a surge of commercial construction projects.
"As the single-family housing market began to tank last year, many developers were expecting the cost of building apartments to drop this year. But prices for labor and materials keep rising faster than inflation and should continue to rise for the foreseeable future, experts say.
"We haven't seen any let up," said David Levey, executive vice president for Forest City Residential, headquartered in Cleveland. Although the news is especially bad for developers of mid-rise and high-rise buildings like Forest City, costs are up for all types of multifamily construction.
It might seem illogical at first: Demand for materials and labor has dropped sharply, but prices keep rising."
FULL STORY: Raging Bull
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