Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mick Mørmøny who wrote (36684)	8/1/2005 3:12:38 AM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

2003-04 boom year locally in new-home construction By Lori Weisberg STAFF WRITER July 31, 2005 The volume of new housing units built in San Diego County surged by more than 16,000 between 2003 and 2004, making San Diego the fifth biggest gainer among counties throughout the nation, according a newly released census report. San Diego's housing production, however, was no threat to neighboring Riverside County, which added 29,135 new homes, fueling the stampede of buyers searching for affordably priced housing. Riverside ranked fourth in the country, just behind booming Clark County, Nev., (home to Las Vegas), the Census Bureau reported. Ranking first and second were Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, and Harris County, Texas, home to Dallas. While real estate analysts argue that San Diego County should be generating between 20,000 and 22,000 new homes a year to meet demand, the 16,279 units built between 2003 and 2004 was a significant increase over the nearly 12,000 new homes constructed the year before. As home prices continue to escalate – a new record median of $493,000 was set last month – real estate experts attribute the high costs to an imbalance between supply and demand. Still, the housing production recorded between July 1, 2003, and July 1, 2004, marks the largest volume in 14 years, said Alan Nevin, of MarketPointe Realty Advisors, a real estate consulting firm. "It's just possible we'll beat the 16,000 this year, but in the heyday of the mid-'80s we were up there in the 40,000 and 50,000 range, but most of those were apartments." Even so, San Diego and Riverside were the only two California counties that ranked among the top 10 gainers in housing units, besting populous Los Angeles and Orange counties. While San Diego is running out of developable suburban land, there are still areas in the southern and northern parts of the county where large subdivisions are being built, and thousands of condominiums are still planned for downtown San Diego. "Orange County has been very slow because most of their growth has gone to Riverside, and Los Angeles has much less land available for development," observed Ben Bartolotto, research director of the Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board. "San Diego had a large period of multifamily development, with some very huge projects last year. Now it's tapering off. I'd bet most of the reason for the growth was the condo and apartment categories, and a lot of that is downtown." Nevin suspects that over the long term, construction of apartments and condominiums will overtake development of single-family homes in San Diego County. "Two-thirds of all our households have no children and therefore, our household sizes are more amenable to attached units." signonsandiego.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lori Weisberg: (619) 293-2251; lori.weisberg@uniontrib.com