Building Permits, Housing, Economy All Up In San Diego

Geoffrey Schiering — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:25:26 +0000

There are more signs that the housing market is stabilizing in San Diego, California. This week it was announced that San Diego County’s index of leading economic indicators rose again in March, this time by 1 percent. This marks a 12-month rise in the index, which is the first full year of increases after declines in the three prior years. Also, the number of new building permit applications rose again in March, indicating growing optimism among new home builders. In the first quarter of 2010, permits for single-family San Diego houses were up 97 percent compared with the first quarter of 2009.

On Wednesday the Burnham-Moores Real Estate Institute at the University of San Diego released a report stating that the 12-month rise in the index of leading economic indicators signals that the San Diego economy hit bottom in late 2009 or early 2010. There have been major improvements in the job outlook recently, as San Diego employers added another 5,000 jobs to their payrolls in March. This is the largest gain in San Diego jobs since February 2008. Unemployment claims have fallen for the past six months, and help-wanted ads have increased for the past five months. And although unemployment remains around 11 percent, these are positive signs that people are finding their way back into the workforce.

Home construction is also on the rise in San Diego, with single-family houses leading the way. There were 197 permits issued for single-family homes in March 2010, up 37.8% from the 143 permits issued in March 2009. As already noted above, the year-to-date increase in single-family building permits is up 97 percent. But multi-family construction permits are still lagging, with new permits for apartments and condos down 36 percent from year-ago levels.

In California as a whole, 3,714 housing permits were issued in March, up 6.5% from February. In the first quarter a total of 10,292 housing permits were issued in California, up 28.5 percent from 8,009 permits issued in the first quarter of 2009. And although these are still low numbers compared to the housing boom years, the improvements suggest that housing and the economy are turning a corner in 2010.

The California legislature has stepped in to keep the housing momentum going. With the expiration of the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit on April 30, the state of California began offering its own California Home Buyer Tax Credit starting May 1. The California credits are being offered on a first-come first-served basis. Home buyers need to act soon to take advantage of the California tax credit before the funds run out. The last time a similar credit was offered in California the funds were gone within 4 months.

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Building Permits, Housing, Economy All Up In San Diego