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Home building permits slow

The Bakersfield Californian | Thursday, Jul 24 2008 3:30 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 24 2008 3:31 PM

The city of Bakersfield’s building report for June provides a midyear snapshot of local housing activity that’s in line with sluggish state and national trends.

Builders pulled permits for 111 single-family homes homes last month compared to 217 a year earlier, the city Planning Division’s report showed.

Totals for the first six months of 2008 are also down from last year: 605 so far compared to 1,100 midway through 2007. Total value of this year’s permits is nearly $113 million.

The California Building Industry Association reported similar figures for the state earlier this week. Single-family permits declined 54.9 percent in June compared to a year earlier; Golden State builders pulled 3,954 permits last month. Figures for the first six months of the year showed the same percentage drop as the monthly number, the association’s report showed.

The National Association of Home Builders last week also reported a June dip for single-family construction.

At Bakersfield’s market peak in 2005, some 473 permits were pulled in June of that year, city reports show. Last month’s figure shows a drop of more than 76 percent from that peak. At the six-month marker in 2005, 2,177 permits had been pulled.