CA Housing Starts Up 11%

The June housing starts for California were tallied and released today by the California Building Industry Association:

California homebuilders, making up for production delays earlier this year, began construction on nearly 11 percent more single-family homes in June of this year than they did in June 2004, pushing total housing starts during the first six months of the year ahead of last year's near-record pace, the California Building Industry Association reported today.

In fact, June's 16,032 single-family housing starts, as measured by building permits issued, was the highest June total since 1989, according to figures compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board.

Steve Doyle, a San Diego homebuilder and 2005 CBIA President, said the reason for the surge in new-home construction is simple - demand continues to far exceed supply.

A more comprehensive .pdf file is available from the CBIA at this link The most surprising stat on that sheet is the number of starts for Ventura County, which is listed as "OXNARD-1,000Oaks-VENTURA." It says single family starts there are up 109 percent for the first six months of 2005 over the same period in 2004!