Questionnaires in the Mail for Times Building Survey
Letters and questionnaires have been mailed to more than 300 Southern California home builders by The Times in preparation for the 15th annual Survey of Residential Building in seven Southland counties.
The one-page form seeks data on sales volume and the number of housing units built during 1985, inventory as of the firm’s year-end or fiscal accounting period and projections for sales volume and construction during 1986. It deals only with housing projects in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Kern counties.
Participation in the annual survey is voluntary, but it has become a standard for measurement of production for the Southern California home-building industry. The few non-participating exceptions are firms listed on the stock exchange. Because of Securities and Exchange Commission law considerations, such companies are reluctant and cautious about forecasting construction quotas for a future period, aware that such published projections might affect their stock prices.
The questionnaire asks for sales volume during the past year and the number of homes, condominium, apartment, mobile home or manufactured housing units built and asks for 1986 projections of sales and production in the same categories.
The deadline for submitting the forms to the real estate section is Feb. 12. The questionnaires and stamped, return envelopes have been mailed to participants of last year’s survey. Other firms wishing to participate may contact the real estate section. Results of the survey will be published in mid-March, and all participating firms will receive five free booklet reprints of the data.
