According to DataQuick, the County's median home sale price declined slightly to $154,000 in December after posting six consecutive months of increases. Sales volume also increased slightly, from 2,751 in November to 2,934 in December.
During 2009Q4, the number of trustee deeds recorded (foreclosures) in the County held steady at 4,994, just 5 fewer than the 4,999 recorded in 2009Q3. The number of foreclosures in the County has stayed near 5,000 per quarter for a year, even though the number of notices of defaults (NODs) has fallen for three consecutive quarters. The pressure on the housing market is still there, but the main source of defaults is now unemployment instead of bad loans. While there are programs to help those with bad loans, there are almost no programs designed to deal with unemployment-induced foreclosures.
In December, 150 residential building permits were issued, compared to 324 issued in 11/'09. Of those, 108 were single-family residences (SFRs) and 42 were multi-family units. SFR activities were mostly concentrated in three cities: Rancho Cucamonga (26), Fontana (25), and Chino (16). All multi-family activities were in Fontana (27), Chino (9), and Ontario (6). SFRs accounted for 57% of all housing units permitted in '09, down from a peak of 92% in '05. For 2009, there were 2,493 units permitted, or 86.5% lower than the level in 2004 when construction activity peaked.
For the fourth consecutive month, and fifth time in 2009, there were no commercial office, industrial, and retail building permits issued in December. For commercial office, it was the sixth consecutive month of no activity. For the past 16 months, there were 12 months in which no commercial office building permits were issued. Compared to the peak year of 2007, office construction was 93% lower in 2009. The County had just one large industrial project permitted in 2009 -- the Dr. Pepper/Snapples plant in Victorville. Compared to the peak year of 2006, industrial construction was 91% lower in 2009. Compared to the peak year of 2007, retail construction was also 91% lower in 2009.
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.
According to both DataQuick and the California Assn. of Realtors, the County's median home sale price remained at $150,000 in October -- the fifth month of rising or unchanged median sale price.
In October, 358 residential building permits were issued, compared to 302 issued in September. Of those, 135 were single-family residences (SFRs) and 223 were multi-family units. SFR activities were mostly concentrated in four defined areas: Rancho Cucamonga (62), Fontana (25), Victorville (13), and unincorporated areas (11). All multi-family activities were in Rancho Cucamonga.
Just like in September, there were no commercial office, industrial, and retail building permits issued in October. This is the third time this year that we saw a triple "0". For commercial office, this is the 5th consecutive month of no activity. For the past 14 months, there were 10 months in which there were no commercial office building permits issued. With the large inventory of default or near-default commercial properties out there, financing for new construction is almost non-existent. Industry experts do not expect a recovery in the immediate future.
DataQuick reported a slight decline in the number of mortgage defaults (notices of defaults or NODs). The number of NODs in 2009Q3 was 9,833, down from 10,852 in 2009Q2 and 13,276 in 2009Q1. The number of trustee's deeds (foreclosures) rose slightly to 4,999 in 2009Q3 (4,769 in 2009Q2 and 4,814 in 2009Q1). Home sales have been running about twice the rate of foreclosures, which means the inventory of lender-owned properties is likely declining.
According to DataQuick, the median home sale price rose to $150,000 in September. September marked the fourth month of rising or unchanged median sale price. There may have been a rush to buy homes because of the expiring home buyer tax credit, which the government has just extended to April 30, 2010.
In September, 294 residential building permits were issued, compared to 158 issued in August. Of those, 113 were single-family residences (SFRs) and 181 were multi-family units. SFR activities were mostly concentrated in four defined areas: Fontana (30), unincorporated County areas (27), and Rancho Cucamonga (20). Most multi-family activities were in the City of San Bernardino (165).
There were no commercial office, industrial, and retail building permits issued in September. This is only the second time this year (besides March) that we saw a triple "0". For commercial office, this is the 4th consecutive month of no activity. For the past 13 months, there were 9 months in which there were no commercial office building permits issued. With vacancy rates over 23% in the 2-county region, builders are both unwilling and unable to build -- financing has totally dried up.