California home production hits new low

In 2009, California hit a record low for home production, according to a report by the California Building Industry Association trade group. The association has data for housing starts since 1954.

Local governments statewide issued a total of 36,209 permits last year for new homes, apartments, condominiums and townhomes. That's down 44 percent from the previous record low in 2008 -- 64,962 -- and way down -- 83 percent -- compared to the decade's peak in 2004 when governments issued 212,960 permits.

For residential building permits by county, click here.

For permits by metropolitan area, click here.

Of the 2009 permits, 25,046 were for single-family homes in 2009, down 24 percent from the year before. Multifamily permits totaled 11,163, down 65 percent from 2008.

December permits totaled 3,594, down 23 percent year-over-year, but up 39 percent month-to-month.

December numbers are often inflated because of a rush to pull permits before certain regulations and fees increase in January, according to the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), which gathered the statistics.

The board projects that local governments will issue 52,000 total permits in 2010, "a slight increase from 2009, but still down from 2008 and by no means a recovery," according to the report.

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