The Maryland Department of Planning, which has data for the first two months of this year, notes that builders got permits in the Baltimore metro area for 85 percent more multifamily housing in January and February than they did in the first two months of last year. Permits were issued for 467 units this year in that category, which includes apartments and condo complexes, vs. 253 last year.

Permits for single-family units -- detached houses, townhouses and rowhouses -- are down 47 percent, dropping to 422 units from nearly 800 in the first two months of last year.

Yes, that's right: There were more permits for multifamily than single family in January and February. In the Baltimore metro area, where most building happens in the 'burbs, that's not an everyday occurrence.

Interested in earlier numbers? Click HERE.