Building permits on the rise across California

Debra Gruszecki • The Desert Sun • April 26, 2010

Total housing starts are up for the third month in March across California, signaling that the worst of the housing downturn may be over, the California Building Industry Association said Monday.

Building permit activity in Riverside and San Bernardino counties rose 45 percent. To the California Building Industry Association, the numbers are a sign the worst of the housing downturn may be over.

“We’re off to a great start this year,’’ said Liz Snow, CBIA’s president and chief executive officer. “Housing starts are up in all categories for the first quarter of the year’’ over the same time frame in 2009.

Statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board show that permits were pulled for 3,714 total housing units in March - 4 percent more than March 2009 and 7 percent more than February.

Permits issued for single-family homes - 2,231 - rose across the state by nearly 17 percent, from March 2009 and nearly 24 percent from February.

In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the 525 single-family home permits issued in March represented a 45 percent increase over activity in March 2009 when 362 permits were issued. The number of permits issued since February also went up 9 percent.

Ben Bartolotto, research director for CIRB, said new housing is clearly on the upswing, although the extent that the gains are sustainable and the magnitude of the gains are uncertain.

CIRB is still forecasting a modest recovery for 2010 with permits being pulled for 52,000 units.

The recently enacted state tax credit for homebuyers should help to sustain the gains in construction, Snow added. “These numbers are a breath of fresh air, and tax credit should help capitalize and build on this momentum,” she said.