California Housing Production Increases for Third Consecutive Month in October, CBIA Announces

Multifamily sector continues to drive increase in permits for the month and year

SACRAMENTO, CA – November 22, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — California housing production increased for the third consecutive month in October as builders pulled permits for 17 percent more housing units when compared to October 2010, the California Building Industry Association announced today.

According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), permits were pulled for 2,782 total housing units in October, up 17 percent from the same month a year ago but down 26 percent from September. Permits for single-family homes totaled 1,444, down 4 percent from October 2010 and down 8 percent from the previous month, while multifamily permits totaled 1,338, up 54 percent from a year ago but down 38 percent from September.

For the first ten months of the year, permits were pulled for 37,274 total units, up 7 percent when compared to the first ten months of 2010 when 34,745 permits were issued. Permits for single-family homes were down 14 percent while permits for multifamily units were up 38 percent.

“This is definitely what we would like to continue seeing, but I wouldn’t call this a recovery quite yet,” said Mike Winn, CBIA’s President and CEO. “All of this year’s incremental growth can be attributed to the multifamily sector. Single-family homebuilding is still struggling and that’s the sector that usually has a greater impact on jobs and the economy.”

Winn noted the CIRB forecast remained unchanged with a total of 46,000 residential permits expected to be pulled in 2011. The forecasted single-family total of 21,500 units would be the lowest on record since CIRB began tracking permits in 1954 while the forecasted yearly total would put this year a scant 3 percent ahead of 2010’s 44,762 units.

“We continue to be going in the right direction but we still must ask our lawmakers to do no harm as our industry continues on the fragile path to recovery,” said Winn. “Getting single-family home construction back on track would go a long way toward putting people back to work and getting our state’s economy moving again.”

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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.

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Media Contact:

Michael Castillo
Communications Manager
(916) 443-7933 ext. 346
mcastillo (at) cbia (dot) org