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Housing starts rise for third consecutive month

California homebuilders pulled permits for 3,714 total housing units in March, a 4 percent increase compared with March 2009, and 7 percent higher compared with February, according to the California Building Industry Association (CBIA). March marked the third consecutive month of month-to-month increases.

According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), homebuilders pulled permits for 2,231 single-family homes in March, an increase of 17 percent compared with March 2009 and 24 percent from February, while multifamily permits totaled 1,483, down 11 percent from a year ago and 12 percent from the prior month.

For the first three months of the year, permits were pulled for 10,292 units, an increase of 29 percent compared with the first three months of 2009 when 8,009 permits were issued. Single-family permits rose 34 percent while multifamily permits rose 22 percent.

C.A.R. Newsline is published by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, a trade association representing more than 175,000 REALTORS® statewide.

Edited by: Mark Giberson, markg@car.org