According to state figures, 30,358 housing permits were issued in 1998, up from 27,454 permits issued in 1997.

Since 2000, 1,746 new housing permits have been issued.

This year, 20,857 new housing permits were issued by the city through August.

Total housing permits, a barometer of current demand, rose a strong 3.5 percent in May.

Some 200 to 250 housing permits are issued a year, he added.

Of the 36,600 housing permits issued in the state last year, 5,915 were for rental units, according to preliminary state figures.

Last year, in a signal that buyer interest is still strong, 319 new housing permits were issued in the central business area.

Last year there were 5,097 housing permits issued for rentals, up from 3,346 in 1997 and from 3,122 in 1996, according to state figures.

But in Dutchess, new housing permits suggest that the boom is just beginning.

In 1997, 3,201 permits were issued for rentals, or about 11 percent of the total number of 30,357 housing permits.