New Home Construction Continues to Decline in CA (article)

California housing starts fell for the 14th consecutive month in April 2007, declining 30.4 percent compared with the construction pace recorded one year earlier, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) recently reported. Based on the number of building permits issued, 10,355 new housing units were started throughout the state in April, with single-family units accounting for 69.3 percent of the starts.

During the first four months of 2007, California housing starts totaled 43,418, a 28.2 percent decline compared with housing starts during the same period one year earlier. Construction activity is lagging across most of the state, with big declines in a few select areas.

According to CBIA Chief Economist Alan Nevin, nearly 50 percent of this year's decline in single-family housing production stems from the Riverside/San Bernardino and Sacramento markets, while the decline in multifamily construction is in Los Angeles County and the Bay Area.

**Taken from the California Association of Realtors Bulletin, dated May 30, 2007.