Housing Permits Decline

The rainstorms drenching California in the first quarter dampened new home construction in the state, particularly in the Southland, data released Friday showed.

New housing units as measured by permits issued in California totaled 49,249 in the first three months, down 4.1% from the year-earlier period, the Construction Industry Research Board reported.

In Southern California, the decline was more pronounced. Orange County saw permits plunge 25.3% to 2,032 while permits in Los Angeles County fell 9.2%, to 5,545. In the Inland Empire, permits issued decreased 6.7%, to 11,242.

Analysts are watching housing starts for signs of a slowdown after a strong 2004. However, it is too early to detect any trend from the data, said Ben Bartolotto, the construction board’s chief researcher.

“Builders pull permits when they are ready to start construction, usually,” he said. “But if it looked like it was going to rain again, they might have waited.”

By March, builders appeared to be actively seeking permits again. On a month-to-month basis, the number of permits issued in California was 19,157 in March, up 33.3% from February, the research board reported.

The California Building Industry Assn., a homebuilders’ trade group, said Friday that, despite any weather-related setbacks, builders were still expected to pull more than 200,000 housing permits this year -- almost as many as the 210,000 last year.