New-Home Ssales and Production Declines in Ccalifornia
California Association of Realtors Newsline -- December 8, 2004
New-home production in California declined in October compared with September 2004 and October 2003, the California Building Industry Association recently reported. Builders began construction on 11,159 single-family homes in October, down 10.6 percent from September and 13.8 percent below year-ago levels. Even with the decline, new-home production in the state remains near the high levels of the past few years.
Among the state's five major regions, housing starts were higher in October than in September in Southern California (up 10 percent), the San Joaquin Valley (up 7.6 percent) and the Sacramento-Sacramento Valley (up 2.4 percent). Declines were registered in the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast regions, down 3.5 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.
Despite the October slowdown, overall housing starts for the first 10 months of 2004 totaled 173,732, up 4.4 from the same period a year ago. California builders are still on pace to construct about 204,000 homes in 2004, the most since 1989.
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