Homebuilding Strong in June

The June report from the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB)was upbeat. In California, there was a 9.9% increase over the year intotal housing permits issued. Permits for multi-family units jumped 127.4%over June 1999. The biggest increases in the latter were in San DiegoCounty (821.6%), Orange County (417.8%), Los Angeles (88.8%), and San Jose(73.2%). For the first 6 months of the year, total housing permits are up 7.3%in California. Los Angeles County is running 32.9% ahead, Orange County isup by 15.6%, while the Riverside-San Bernardino area is ahead by 5.8%.San Diego County is down a modest 1.4%, while Ventura County's permit totalis lagging by 11.5%. In the Bay Area, the San Francisco metropolitan area's 6-month totalis up by 0.3%, the Oakland metropolitan area is running 3.6% ahead. TheSan Jose area is rebounding, with the 6-month total up 24.6% over the year. While the percentage changes appear to indicate a healthy level of newhomebuilding activity, the reality is that the actual number of new unitsis nowhere near to solving California's growing housing needs.

Thanks to Chris Steins