According to both DataQuick and the California Assn. of Realtors, the County's median home sale price rose to $160,000 in November -- the first time the median sale price increased by $10,000 or more since the price decline began in 11/'06. The rush to qualify for the home purchase tax credit may have helped boost the sales volume and price. The credit has been extended to 4/30/2010.
In November, 325 residential building permits were issued, compared to 354 issued in October. Of those, 92 were single-family residences (SFRs) and 233 were multi-family units. SFR activities were mostly concentrated in three defined areas: Rancho Cucamonga (28), Victorville (21), and unincorporated areas (12). All multi-family activities were in Rancho Cucamonga (223) and Ontario (10). There has been a very visible change in the composition of the housing stock being built. During the heydays of the housing boom (2005 and 2006), SFRs accounted for over 90% of newly-built housing. In the past three months, the proportion of SFRs has declined to just 35%. This is of interest to those who monitor the health of the construction sector because compared to SFRs, multi-family units require significantly less labor and cost less to build. For instance, based on the RIMS multipliers, in 2005 a SFR took 2.18 man-years to build, compared to 1.01 man-years per unit for a duplex, 0.96 for a triplex/fourplex, and 0.92 for a complex larger than five housing units.
For the third consecutive month, and fourth time in 2009, there were no commercial office, industrial, and retail building permits issued in November. For commercial office, it was the sixth consecutive month of no activity. For the past 15 months, there were 11 months in which there were no commercial office building permits issued. With the large inventory of default commercial properties out there and the asking prices for some properties actually lower than the cost of construction, financing for new construction is almost non-existent.
In November, 325 residential building permits were issued, compared to 354 issued in October. Of those, 92 were single-family residences (SFRs) and 233 were multi-family units. SFR activities were mostly concentrated in three defined areas: Rancho Cucamonga (28), Victorville (21), and unincorporated areas (12). All multi-family activities were in Rancho Cucamonga (223) and Ontario (10). There has been a very visible change in the composition of the housing stock being built. During the heydays of the housing boom (2005 and 2006), SFRs accounted for over 90% of newly-built housing. In the past three months, the proportion of SFRs has declined to just 35%. This is of interest to those who monitor the health of the construction sector because compared to SFRs, multi-family units require significantly less labor and cost less to build. For instance, based on the RIMS multipliers, in 2005 a SFR took 2.18 man-years to build, compared to 1.01 man-years per unit for a duplex, 0.96 for a triplex/fourplex, and 0.92 for a complex larger than five housing units.
For the third consecutive month, and fourth time in 2009, there were no commercial office, industrial, and retail building permits issued in November. For commercial office, it was the sixth consecutive month of no activity. For the past 15 months, there were 11 months in which there were no commercial office building permits issued. With the large inventory of default commercial properties out there and the asking prices for some properties actually lower than the cost of construction, financing for new construction is almost non-existent.
