California New-Home Production Rebounds in January, CBIA Announces

SACRAMENTO, CA – February 25, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — New-home building in California rebounded in January from a year earlier, but homebuilding officials cautioned against calling it a recovery as the numbers for January 2009 were extremely low, the California Building Industry Association announced today.

“It’s great to see some positive activity in the homebuilding industry, but given the fact that we’re comparing this month to one of the lowest months on record doesn’t exactly bring a housing recovery to mind,” said Liz Snow, CBIA’s President and CEO. “Still, it’s nice to see some increase in homebuilding activity.”

According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), permits were pulled for 2,979 total housing units in January, up 48 percent from the same month a year ago but down 18 percent from December. Permits for single-family homes totaled 1,908, up 50 percent from January 2009 but down 28 percent from the previous month, while multifamily permits totaled 1,071, up 45 percent from a year ago and up 11 percent from December.

Ben Bartolotto, Research Director for CIRB, noted that the monthly decreases from December to January were typical as January is usually one of the weakest months for housing starts. He also noted any enthusiasm for the year-over-year increases seen in January should be tempered with the fact that the numbers for January 2009 were extremely low and posted the lowest annual rate on record.

CIRB is forecasting a modest recovery for 2010 with permits being pulled for 52,000 total units, up slightly from the record-low 36,289 permits pulled in 2009.

Snow added that in order to capitalize on the strong start for 2010, lawmakers should enact the new homebuyer tax credit proposed under Governor Schwarzenegger’s jobs package as soon as possible to keep the positive momentum going.

“The tax credit proposal will give a much needed shot in the arm to the housing industry and help build on this momentum by stimulating the housing market, clearing out inventory, and reigniting job-generating home construction,” said Snow. “Recent studies show that a healthy housing industry is a prolific job and economic generator, contributing hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the state’s economy each year. Enacting the credit would go a long way towards putting more people back to work and jumpstarting a recovery in our overall economy.”

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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