Home Building Up; Florida May Top California Output

U.S. home builders have enjoyed a productive first quarter this year, adding strength to the national recovery in single-family residential construction.

The findings are part of the latest assessment by U.S. Housing Markets, a Michigan-based research service published by Lomas Mortgage USA, that reports national, regional and local factors and trends affecting home building and apartment development.

The survey predicts a gain of 8% to 9% in residential permit volume for 1992, all of it accounted for by single-family homes. The year’s total is estimated go be about 1.03 million units.

Florida is expected to challenge California for the No. 1 home building spot, but with only a small increase from its 1991 housing output. Florida’s permit numbers have seemingly leveled off, the report noted, and California will see its residential permit volume fall below 100,000 units this year for the first time since 1982.

Californians are still feeling the pain of the national recession, plus cutbacks in military spending that have affected important industries, notably aerospace.

Elsewhere, according to U.S. Housing Markets, Atlanta is gearing up for the 1996 Olympic Games.