STATE : Home Building Hits 8-Year Low

New housing construction in California, weakened by a recession-plagued economy, dropped to an eight-year low during November, the industry’s principal state lobbying organization reported today.

The dramatic decline also reflected a 57.2% drop from November, 1989, the California Building Industry Assn. reported.

Building permits declined an average of 17.3% during the month, the most recent period for which statistics are available. About 96,600 permits were issued during November, down from 116,800 issued the month before.

According to the association, single-family units were down 20.2% and multifamily units were down about 11.6%.

Robert Rivinius, the organization’s executive officer, said the slump was caused by concerns over the Mideast, a scarcity of money for construction financing and consumers’ fears about a deepening recession.