CA Homebuilding Disappointing in July

The summer months should see high levels of new homebuilding, but the total number of permits issued in the state during July was down both over the year and from the preceding month. The pattern was the same for both single-family units and apartments. Year-to-date, the number of permits issued in California is up 4.2% to 86,462. The pattern was generally the same around Southern California. Only Orange County managed to post a year-to-year increase. For the first 7 months of the year, total housing permits in Los Angeles County were 23.2% ahead of the year-ago count, to 9,787. Orange County was up 17.3% to 9,067, The other metro areas, however, were running behind. The Riverside-San Bernardino area was down 4.5% to 12,649 units (but this still leads the state). San Diego County was down 4.8% to 10,077 units (still good for second place), while Ventura County was running 13.7% behind at 2,249 units. The 9-county San Francisco Bay area also is seeing a mixed performance, with 5 counties lagging last year, and 4 ahead. Overall, its permit total was up 2.8%, with the juice provided by San Mateo County (+159.4%) and Santa Clara County (+19.3%).

Thanks to Laura Krafft