Existing home sales edged up in August in the Golden State compared to July, but they were still down significantly from August last year, according to the California Association of Realtors.
August sales were up 1.8% from July, but down 14.9% from a year ago. And as a result, the unsold inventory of homes on the market increased to 6.1 months vs. 4.6 months in August ‘09.
Meanwhile, the production of new houses for sale in the state rose for the fourth consecutive month in August, the California Building Industry Association reported. But the 3,598 permits pulled during the month was still the lowest since February 2009.
According to the Construction Industry Research Board, starts were up 18% compared to August last year but down 15% from July 2010.
Permits for single-family houses totaled 1,811, down 19% from August 2009 and down 12% from this July. It was the lowest monthly total since 1,304 single-family permits were issued in February 2009. Meanwhile, multifamily permits totaled 1,787, up 117% from a year ago but down 17% from July.
For the first eight months of the year, permits were pulled for 29,384 units, up 21% compared to the same period in 2009, when 24,236 permits were issued. Single-family permits were up 5% while multi-family permits rose 56%.
