Housing permits rose sharply in May in California to their highest level of the year -- but the gain was entirely in the multifamily sector, with single-family production actually falling in the month.
According to the Construction Industry Research Board, permits were taken down for 4,630 housing units in May, a 42% jump from the same month a year earlier and up 28% from April.
However, the number of permits pulled for single-family houses in the entire state totaled just 1,908 in May. That's a 6% decline from the previous month and a 7% drop from May 2010. On the other hand, permits were issued for 2,722 apartments, a 124% jump from May a year ago and a 71% increase from April.
The picture is the same for the first five months of the year: Permits were issued for 18,120 housing units statewide, a 6% gain when compared to the same period last year when 17,050 permits were issued. But permits for single-family homes were off 17% while permits for multifamily units were up 45%.
With the exception of last December, when builders in the Golden State were rushing to take down permits before a new law requiring sprinklers in every dwelling took effect on Jan. 1, May was the best month for housing production in the state since December 2008.
And it's the first time this year that year-to-date figures have surpassed last year's numbers, said Mike Winn, president of the California Building Industry Association, "so it's a refreshing change and we hope to see further increases."
At the same time, though, Winn lamented the fact that the gains were attributed mostly to the multifamily side of the business. "The construction industry as a whole is still struggling," he pointed out.
