While not anything to write home about (unless you receive this e-mail at a home office), new construction figures in Chicago have been somewhat elevated in the past few years relative to the mid-2000s, says Reis analyst Brad Doremus. Despite no new units in Q4 2010, 2,415 units came online for in 2010, the largest seen since 2000. Reis expects 2011 to buck this trend, with just over 700 new units  forecasted to be brought to market. This would rank as the second lowest amount of annual completions in the metro’s history dating back to 1980, outpacing only 2007, in which just 669 units were completed. Construction activity will pick up after 2011, but expectations are for annual totals to remain below 2010’s figure with completions expected to average roughly 1,800  between 2012 and 2015. Increased demand should continue to outstrip new supply, but certainly not to the extent seen in 2010.