Housing Starts Up in July in California
Housing production in California continued to increase in July as a result of strong performance in the multifamily sector.
According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), permits were pulled for 4,165 total housing units in July, up 35 percent from the same month a year ago but down 10 percent from June. Permits for single-family homes totaled 1,951, down 9 percent from July 2009 and down 31 percent from the previous month. Multifamily permits totaled 2,214, up 134 percent from a year ago and up 25 percent from June.
For the first seven months of the year, permits were pulled for 25,756 units, up 22 percent when compared to the same period in 2009. Single-family permits were up 7 percent, while multifamily permits rose 51 percent.
CBIA President and CEO Liz Snow said the increase was another positive step in the right direction, but she continued to be dismayed by historically low construction levels.
“We’re very pleased to see continued increases in home construction, as I’m sure are the people being put back to work on the new projects,” said Snow. “Unfortunately, the amount of unsold inventory continues to weigh on job-generating home construction, and we still expect to see modest improvement this year while still hovering around record-low production numbers.”
CIRB is now forecasting a total of 47,500 units will be built in 2010, an increase of 30 percent – roughly 11,000 units – over the record-low posted in 2009.
“The improvement over last year is still welcome news, and we hope to see continued increases throughout the remainder of the year and into 2011,” said Snow.
