California homebuilders pulled permits for 21 percent more homes in November when compared to the same month a year ago, but it wont be enough to keep the state from seeing the second-lowest number of housing starts on record, the California Building Industry Association announced today.
According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), permits were pulled for 3,175 total housing units in November, up 21 percent from the same month a year ago and up 35 percent from October. Permits for single-family homes totaled 1,318, down 28 percent from November 2009 and down 10 percent from the previous month, while multifamily permits totaled 1,857, up 129 percent from a year ago and up 108 percent from October.
For the first 11 months of the year, permits were pulled for 37,944 units, up 16 percent when compared to the same period in 2009 when 32,826 permits were issued. Permits for single-family homes continued to fall behind last years pace, down 4 percent when compared to the first 11 months of 2009, while multifamily permits were up 59 percent.
Mike Winn, CBIAs President and CEO, said the increase in the number of permits pulled was welcomed news, but remained disheartened by the near record-low total for the year.
Its great to see an increase in production at this time of year, but unfortunately, it looks like well end up with a much more modest recovery than we had hoped for at the beginning of the year, said Winn. The numbers are at least headed in the right direction, and we hope to see continued increases and a more robust recovery in 2011.
Winn noted that CIRB is now projecting a total of 41,000 units for the year, which would be the second-lowest total on record since records began being kept in 1954. CIRB is projecting an increase to 65,000 total units for 2011, slightly above 2008s total of 64,962 units.
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The California Building Industry Association is a statewide trade association representing thousands of homebuilders, remodelers, subcontractors, architects, engineers, designers, and other industry professionals. More information is available on the Association's Web site, www.cbia.org.
The Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB) is a nonprofit research center established in 1974 to provide statistical information on the California building and construction industry. More information is available on the CIRB Web site, www.cirbdata.com.
