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Lansner on Real Estate ~ The latest news about the housing market from Orange County Register columnist Jon Lansner.

Archive for the 'Construction Industry Research Board' Tag

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O.C. house building down 85% in a decade

September 30th, 2009, 12:00 pm by Jeff Collins

building-permits-9-29-09After falling 84% from 1999 to 2008, Orange County house construction this year so far is down another 12% from last year. (Click on chart at right to enlarge.)

But this year’s drop is the smallest decline among California metro areas, according to the latest building permit figures from the Construction Industry Research Board. Highlights of its August report include:

  • Just one California metro area did better percentage wise than O.C.: The Vallejo-Fairfield area saw single-family home building permits rise 36% as of August, the only California metro with an increase.
    • Town Permits Yr. ch.
    Vallejo-Fairfield 326 36.4%
    OC 844 -11.9%
    Stockton 490 -15.1%
    Oakland 1,030 -17.8%
    Bakersfield 1,022 -20.2%
    Yuba City 106 -22.1%
    Santa Barbara 101 -24.1%
    Fresno 1,391 -25.9%
    Hanford-Corcoran 120 -29.8%
    Riverside-San-Berdoo 3,124 -30.5%
    Visalia-Porterville 683 -32.0%
    El Centro 121 -33.5%
    Ventura 179 -34.2%
    San Diego 1,185 -34.9%
    Chico 221 -38.6%
    San Luis Obispo 205 -38.6%
    Sacto 1,654 -40.7%
    Redding 137 -43.6%
    Santa Rosa 224 -45.4%
    LA 1,423 -46.6%
    SF 194 -46.7%
    Modesto 176 -52.7%
    Santa Cruz 71 -53.9%
    San Jose 430 -55.2%
    Napa 70 -57.6%
    Merced 60 -69.4%
    Salinas 54 -71.3%
    Madera-Chowchilla 44 -74.1%
    Non-metros 621 -43.6%
    State 16,306 -34.4%
  • Building permits for single-family homes fell 34% in the state as a whole.
  • Permits fell nearly 31% in the Inland Empire, and were down 35% in San Diego and nearly 47% in Los Angeles County.
  • Permits fell 74% in the Madera-Chowchilla area, the biggest percentage drop among Golden State metros.

The construction research board forecast that permits for just 39,500 total housing units will be issued this year, the lowest on record, according to the California Building Industry Association.

Related news:

California trends:

Other real estate news:

Posted in: Brokers, builders, etc. • Top tale • • | 47 Comments »

Somehow, O.C. is No. 2 in Calif. homebuilding

September 3rd, 2009, 11:00 am by Jon Lansner
Town Permits Yr. ch.
Vallejo-Fairfield 245 +16%
OC 749 -17%
Stockton 409 -23%
Oakland 874 -23%
Santa Barbara 87 -27%
Bakersfield 804 -30%
Fresno 1,229 -31%
Hanford-Corcoran 108 -32%
San Diego 1,081 -33%
Riverside-San-Berdoo 2,752 -33%
Visalia-Porterville 600 -34%
El Centro 115 -35%
Yuba City 80 -37%
San Luis Obispo 180 -41%
Chico 182 -42%
Sacto 1,444 -42%
Santa Rosa 214 -43%
SF 171 -44%
LA 1,244 -48%
Ventura 132 -48%
Redding 112 -50%
Napa 68 -54%
Modesto 161 -55%
Santa Cruz 55 -58%
San Jose 324 -63%
Merced 59 -69%
Madera-Chowchilla 41 -74%
Salinas 38 -79%
Non-metros 528 -45%
State 14,086 -38%

There’s little to cheer about in the homebuilding business these days. In California, it’s expected that this will be the slowest housing construction year since World War II — surpassing the lethargy of 2008 that was the previous “slowest year since World War II.”

Recent statewide building stars by Construction Industry Research Board show that every significant market tracked — minus one, Vallejo-Fairfield — has seen builders file for fewer building permits for single-family homes in 2009’s first 7 months vs. the same 2008 period.

Curiously, ranked No. 2 in terms of percentage-point performance, is Orange County. As you see in this chart at right, O.C. developers have applied for 17% fewer building permits through July than in 2008.

And only in a crazy-slow year like this, does that slump nearly become “best of breed.”

California trends:

Other real estate news:

Posted in: Brokers, builders, etc. • California conditions • Top tale • • • | 20 Comments »

Calif. homebuilding stalls as tax credit ends

August 26th, 2009, 5:55 pm by Jon Lansner

KB Home Reports Lower EarningsCalifornia Building Industry Association says the state’s homebuilders hit the brakes on starting new housing after the state’s $10,000 tax credit for buyers of new homes ended in early July. The state incentive had ignited a modest building and buying burst when it started in March.

According to July stats from the Construction Industry Research Board:

  • Builders pulled permits for 3,011 total California housing units in July, down 14 percent from June.
  • 2,045 California single-family permits, down 29% from June — that was the busiest month since July 2008.
  • In Orange County, 62 homes were permitted in July — down 43% from June and off 69% from a year ago.

Says CBIA’s president, Robert Rivinius: “Our homebuilders reported a significant drop in traffic last month, largely due to the state closing the window on the homebuyer tax credit. Activity stopped as quickly as it started, which is bad news for housing and the broader economy.”

CIRB now forecasts for all of 2009 that 39,500 California units will be permitted vs. 40,000 in previous outlooks. It’ll be the slowest homebuilding year in the state on record.

<span style=”color: #ff0000;”><strong>Real estate trends:</strong></span>

Posted in: Brokers, builders, etc. • Policy, politics & regulation • Top tale • • • | 10 Comments »

New building starts up 34% from April

June 30th, 2009, 12:00 pm by Marilyn Kalfus, real estate reporter

New building permits for single-family homes in Orange County in May totaled 145, just 2 fewer than last May and up from 108 in April, new construction industry figures show.

Permits pulled in the first 5 months are at 487, down 27% from the same period a year ago.

downtownbuildingmed “Orange County is continually trending to inch up month over month,” said Kristine Thalman, CEO for the Orange County chapter of the California Building Industry Association. She said the $10,000 tax credit for new home buyers is continuing to spur demand since it went into effect in March. “As one of my builders called it, somebody turned the light on,” she said.

Statewide, builders pulled permits for 2,203 single-family homes in May, down 7 percent from April but 40 percent lower than in May 2008. On a seasonally adjusted basis, CIRB reported that May’s figures were down just 1.6 percent compared to April. “This is very good news,” said Robert Rivinius, the California Building Industry Associaton’s president and CEO. “As this continued strength in new-home construction shows, the credit is indeed working.”

The Franchise Tax Board has reported that nearly all of the $100 million for the program is spent. The homebuilding industry is trying to get it extended.

Based on the strength in the single-family market, CIRB for the first time this year has adjusted its annual forecast upward this month. The Board now expects single-family housing starts to total 24,900 and total housing starts to be 40,200 for the year.

For more from the CBIA, CLICK HERE

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    Posted in: Brokers, builders, etc. • Meltdown • Seeking a bottom • Top tale • • • | 14 Comments »

    O.C. homebuilding down 52% from last year

    May 26th, 2009, 4:47 pm by Marilyn Kalfus, real estate reporter

    There were 108 new building permits for single family homes  issued in Orange County in April, down 52% over last April and 5.3 % from March, new construction industry figures show.

    The first 4 months in the county saw a decrease of 34.7% in single family building permits pulled over the same period in 2008.construction

    Statewide, the picture was brighter. Residential construction went up significantly in April from March and was the largest monthly total since October, 2008. The California Building Industry Association attributed the improvement to the homebuyer tax credit that went into effect in March.

    Last month, 2,265 single-family permits were pulled in California, down 33 percent when compared to April 2008 — but up 21 percent when compared to March, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. In October, 2008, 2,352 permits were issued.

    Robert Rivinius, CBIA’s President and CEO, said:

    “The tax credit enacted in March is having the desired effect of stimulating home sales and clearing out inventory, which is helping to generate new construction and put people back to work in the process.

    “However, almost two-thirds of the allocated funds for the credit have been applied for since the program was enacted just 12 weeks ago, which is why we are pushing for a second round of the tax credit by adding another $200 million to the fund in hopes of keeping the positive momentum going while generating construction and much-needed tax revenues for the state and local government.”

    page-teaser-vert
    He cited a report from the Franchise Tax Board saying applications for the tax credit came to $65.7 million as of May 20.

    In Orange County, a Building Industry Association official said the tax credit is helping to clear the inventory of new homes, which must occur before more can be built.

    “In Orange County, we have three major landowners who haven’t built anything or pulled any permits in quite some time,” said Kristine Thalman, CEO for the Orange County chapter of the BIA. “Now you’re starting to see some (sales) activity again, which is good news.

    “We need to increase the demand,” Thalman said. ”Our inventory was at 14 months (last year),  now it’s down to about 5 months.”

    The industry research board is forecasting permits will be pulled for just 40,000 total units in 2009, which would be the lowest number ever, down 38 percent from the record-low 64,962 units in 2008.

    To read more, CLICK HERE.

    For a chart of California metro areas, CLICK HERE.

    Related:

    More from ‘Homebuilding’s worst year’ series:

    Posted in: Top tale • • • • | 6 Comments »

    Large O.C. construction at 4-year low

    January 26th, 2009, 5:30 pm by Jeff Collins
    Click to enlarge

    Click to enlarge

    The Construction Industry Research Board estimates that developers took out $1.4 billion worth of building permits for commercial building projects in 2008. That’s …

    • Below the average amount for the past decade and down 28% from 2007 construction permits.Orange County has averaged $1.5 billion worth of construction permits a year for the past decade.
    • More than 55% of the permit value, however, was issued in the first half of 2008, with permit activity by month peaking in July at $168 million. The slowest month permit-wise was September when just $80 million worth of permits were issued.
    • The biggest construction project of the year was a $64 million parking structure in Irvine, the research board reported.
    • Irvine approved $344 million worth of construction last year, the largest amount among O.C. cities. Anaheim was second with $214 million worth of building permits. Newport Beach was third, approving $110 million in new construction.

    The permits are an indication of future construction since actual starts lag the issuance of a building permit by several months or more.

    Here’s a breakdown of building permits for the past decade in millions:

    Year Cmml Indus Other Alts Adds Total
    1999 $796 $123 $121 $574 $1,614
    2000 $874 $87 $133 $667 $1,762
    2001 $566 $90 $173 $521 $1,350
    2002 $477 $62 $114 $556 $1,209
    2003 $214 $68 $183 $540 $1,006
    2004 $352 $26 $198 $556 $1,133
    2005 $600 $27 $233 $635 $1,495
    2006 $1,273 $91 $317 $720 $2,401
    2007 $909 $52 $288 $757 $2,005
    2008 $424 $14 $185 $815 $1,438

    Source: Construction Industry Research Board; Cmml=commercial; Indus=industrial; Alts Adds=alterations & additions

    More real estate news …

    Posted in: Brokers, builders, etc. • Commercial property • Top tale • • • | 1 Comment »

    O.C. homebuilding at post-World War II low

    January 21st, 2009, 12:16 pm by Jeff Collins
    Click to enlarge

    Click to enlarge

    Orange County governments issued 3,156 building permits to homebuilders in 2008, the slowest year in a stream of figures dating back to 1946.

    The non-profit Construction Industry Research Board reports that the level of homebuilding here has fallen to just 7% of the amount in 1963 — O.C. homebuilding’s pinnacle — when residential construction peaked at 44,656 units.

    Builders have cut back on construction as sales of new homes fell in Orange County to just over 2,000 units last year, with newly built sales continuing to drop even as existing home sales began to rebound, according to MDA DataQuick. That’s the lowest level of new-home sales in statistics dating back to 1988. On average, Orange County builders sold nearly 7,000 newly built homes a year prior to 2008.

    “The builders are in a holding pattern, staying alive until the market recovers,” a press release quoted DataQuick President John Walsh as saying.

    Ganahl

    Ganahl

    Ganahl Lumber President Peter Ganahl said that sales at his chain has fallen 25% from its peak year in 2006 even though large homebuilding companies and their subcontractors make up a small portion of his chain’s clientele.

    Many of the new homes that are being built are going up in the coastal cities, where custom homes by smaller, individual contractors predominate, Ganahl said. The bulk of the slowdown is among “production” homebuilders in central and south Orange County.

    Still smaller contractors are affected too, he said. Some have gone out of business, and those that are surviving had to lay off workers because they’re less busy, he said.

    “We think (homebuilding) will be lower in the coming year,” Ganahl added. “We are still in search of that supposed bottom out there. Our data tells us we aren’t there yet.”

    Research board figures show that local governments issued 1,299 permits for “single-family” homes, consisting of houses, townhomes and other types of side-by-side condos. That’s the lowest in statistical breakdowns dating to 1955. Single-family home construction had been falling anyway, declining 84% in the past 11 years. Condo construction is close to outpacing construction of houses as Orange County runs out of buildable land.

    But last year, single-family permits dropped 40% from 2007 levels and more than 65% from the number issued in 2006, research board figures show.

    The number of permits for “multi-family” homes — consisting of apartments and multi-story condos — fell to 1,857 last year. The only years that were lower since the mid-1950s were 1955 and 1956.

    In other real estate news …

    Posted in: Brokers, builders, etc. • Real estate jobs • Selling patterns • Top tale • • • • • | 13 Comments »

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