BUILDERS OF HOMES MAY NAIL TARGET 200,000-UNIT GOAL COULD BE '04 REALITY.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Wilcox may refer to: Place names in the United States
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Residential construction maintained its strong pace in January January: see month. , suggesting that builders will cross the 200,000-unit threshold in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). for the first time in 15 years this year, an industry tracker said Tuesday Tuesday: see week. . Last month, builders pulled permits for 14,292 homes and apartments, up 0.7 percent from a year ago and down 10.7 percent from December December: see month. 2003, said the California Building Industry Association. Adjusting for seasonal factors, permit activity increased 2.4 percent from December and 4.9 percent from a year ago. Single-family sin·gle-fam·i·ly adj. Relating to or being a dwelling designed for one family only: a single-family home; single-family occupancy. homes accounted for 11,135 permits in January, a 3.3 percent decline from December and down an annual 3.4 percent. However, on a seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted Mathematically adjusted by moderating a macroeconomic indicator (e.g., oil prices/imports) so that relative comparisons can be drawn from month to month all year. basis activity increased by 13 percent from December and 1.2 percent from January 2003, the Sacramento-based trade group said. If that kind of pace holds for all of this year, builders will pull permits for 202,000 units and hit the association forecast target and possibly breach a barrier that was thought to be unattainable again after the sector contracted in the 1990s. It's still not good enough, though, noted association President Sherman D. Harmer Jr., saying even that kind of production won't satisfy the state's needs this year or begin to bring the supply of housing back into line with the demand. This year's total production will remain well below the 230,000 to 250,000 homes and apartments the state says is needed to keep pace with the ever-growing population. Last year, permit activity increased an annual 16.5 percent, to 195,448 units, the most since 1989, said the Burbank-based California Industry Research Board. A report last week from the California Business Roundtable Business Roundtable (BRT), an association consisting of the chief executive officers of major U.S. corporations that was founded in 1972 through the merger of the three preexisting business organizations. said that since 1995 industry production has fallen about 500,000 units short of demand, in part because of government regulations and a negative business climate. Harmer said the deficit could be twice as big. And there is still the chance 2004 won't live up to the association's expectations. Ben Bartolotto, the research board's director, said it's too early to call 2004 a stellar year based on January's numbers. ``January is a lousy lous·y adj. lous·i·er, lous·i·est 1. Infested with lice. 2. Extremely contemptible; nasty: a lousy trick. 3. month,'' he said. ``It's only one month and it's the weakest month of the year. If you have a big project, especially an apartment building, it will make that January look great.'' Robert Rivinius, the building association's chief executive officer, said while one month doesn't make a trend, January's results show the sector still has momentum. ``While it's still short of what the state says we need, we're still closer than that during the 1990s when we were lucky to be over 100,000 units. We're certainly heading in the right direction,'' he said of this year's production. Gregory J. Wilcox, (818) 713-3743 greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com |
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