Sacramento (Feb. 3) E Housing production
in California in 2009 is expected
to decrease from the already
record-low numbers seen in
2008, the California Building Industry
Association announced today,
leading CBIA officials to strengthen
the call to state and federal lawmakers
to enact a homebuyer tax
credit in hopes of reinvigorating the
housing market and the economy.
The Association is forecasting just
63,400 units will be produced in
2009, a 3 percent decrease from
the record-low 65,380 units produced
in 2008. In comparison, the
low point of the homebuilding recession
in the early 1990s was
84,656 units in 1993, while the
worst year during the recession of
the early 1980s was 85,656 in
1982. To meet the need for new
housing generated by population
growth, the state estimates builders
should produce about 220,000 new
homes and apartments annually.
Robert Rivinius, CBIAGs President
and CEO, said the prospect of
having another year of record-low
housing production should be a
wake-up call to policy makers to
enact housing stimulus measures to
reduce any further loss to the industry
and the overall economy.
HThe housing industry is an extremely
productive economic generator
when operating at normal
levels, helping to create jobs and
generate much-needed revenue for
state and local governments,I Rivinius
said. HWe will continue to ask
state and federal lawmakers to
enact a tax credit for new homebuyers,
which has proven in the past to
be an effective means of revitalizing
distressed housing markets.I
Rivinius cites the temporary homebuyer
tax credit enacted by Congress
during the 1970s when the
housing market was going through
a similar downturn.
HWithin months of its enactment,
home sales doubled and within two
years, new housing construction
was back to normal levels nationwide,
I he said. HWe continue to
believe that in todayGs economic
climate, a tax credit for new homebuyers
would provide a much
needed jolt to the languishing housing
market, and in turn, the entire
economy.I
The forecast, prepared by the Construction
Industry Research Board,
predicts California will produce
30,000 single-family units in 2009,
down 9 percent from the 33,048
constructed in 2008, and 33,400
multifamily units, up a modest 3
percent from the 32,332 permits
issued in 2008.
HThese numbers do not bode well
for our industry, or the economy,
and we could be in for a very rough
year,I Rivinius said. HWe hope our
lawmakers at the state and federal
level will recognize how vital a
healthy housing market is to the
overall economy and enact stimulus
measures immediately to help our
industry and to help the overall
economy from falling further into
recession.
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