Lee County permits down.

Single-family home permits in Lee County were down slightly from a year ago — but the number of permits for apartment units increased 25 percent, county officials reported Wednesday.Meanwhile, Cape Coral reported a major decrease in single-family permits in the same period: down to 525 from 848 a year ago. Multifamily figures weren't available but in the past six months the Cape issued permits for 96 units, compared to 91 in the previous 12 months.Experts said the trend to multifamily is well under way. "My prediction is that over the next six months or a year there's going to be a shift into apartments," said Michael Reitmann, executive
director of the Lee Building Industry Association. "The sheer price of single-family homes has gone up so much there's going to be a shift."Frank D'Alessandro of D'Alessandro & Woodyard, a Fort Myers-based real estate broker who also writes a column for The News-Press, said that, if anything, the statistics understate the increasing preference for more affordable apartments."That's not counting the thousands of condominium conversions," he said. "I find it very telling that the market has hit a point where cost is really driving the consumer's taste."
The county issued 154 duplex permits in March, down from 210 a year ago.Mary Gibbs, county community development director, said Lehigh Acres continues to drive the market for both single-family and duplex units: "Lehigh was about 66 percent of the single-family total and virtually all the duplexes."
The apartment units were mainly in Bonita Springs and south Lee County, she said.Lee County figures include the town of Fort Myers Beach and the city of Bonita Springs, which both contract with the county for permitting services. Information from the city of Fort Myers was not available Wednesday.