New residential construction - the barometer of Manteca’s economic health since the start of the first building boom in the 1970s - dipped slightly in 2012.

There were 282 single family homes either built or started last year. That’s down from 313 in 2011. Overall - when the 152-unit Juniper Apartment complex is tossed into the mix - Manteca started 465 housing units in 2011

 Manteca in 2012 recorded its third straight year of the value of overall construction activity hovering between $75 million and $80 million. Some $79.3 million worth of construction started in 2012 bolstered in part by two municipal projects - the transit station and vehicle maintenance building - that contributed $10.1 million to the total.

It is a far carry from the record year of $191.1 million in new construction in 2002. It also represents a $100 million drop off that started the year the housing bubble started to burst in 2006.

Still Manteca has fared better than virtually every other Northern San Joaquin Valley jurisdiction when it has come to new construction. For the past four years Manteca has still managed to average more than 360 new housing starts a year including apartment complex units. It is the highest number of any jurisdiction in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties. Even with a slight drop off of new home construction in Manteca during 2012, the city still leads the county in new single family home starts.