California housing starts declined 19.2% in May.

In its monthly California Housing Report newsletter, Bank of America reported that starts during May declined to 204,100 units on an annual basis. The decline followed an April increase to 252,500 units that exceeded the 1977 peak level. Single-family construction fell 18%, while multifamily construction decreased 20.1%. The only category to show a gain was construction of buildings containing two to four units, which rose 4.6% above the April rate. Bank economists attributed the slowdown to builders’ concerns over growing inventories and creating an “overbuilt” situation.