My Real Estate Blog

Housing starts rise for fourth consecutive month in August

California homebuilders pulled permits for 3,598 total housing units in August, an 18-percent increase compared with August 2009, but 15 percent lower compared with July, according to the California Building Industry Association.

According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, homebuilders pulled permits for 1,811 single-family homes in August, a decrease of 19 percent compared with August 2009 and 12 percent less than July.  Multifamily permits totaled 1,787, up 117 percent from a year ago, but down 17 percent from the prior month.

For the first eight months of the year, permits were pulled for 29,384 units, an increase of 21 percent compared with the same period in 2009 when 24,236 permits were issued. Single-family permits rose 5 percent while multifamily permits rose 56 percent.