As of August, about 82,500 building permits have been issued throughout the state in 2018. This is 7 percent more than the first eight months of 2017.
Single family homes (40,855) have made up about half of the statewide total so far this year, as they have in recent years. August single family permits beat 2017 levels by 8 percent. Single family permits have exceeded 2017 levels in every month of 2018 except June. Overall, single family permits are up 8 percent through the first eight months of 2018 compared to 2017.
Multifamily housing units (41,518) account for the other half of the statewide total. August was a relatively weak month for multifamily permits, falling below 2017 levels by 26 percent. Despite this down month, multifamily permits are up 5 percent through the first eight months of 2018 compared to 2017.
Following a record setting month in June of 2018, multifamily permitting in Los Angeles County dropped off in July and August. 643 multifamily permits were issued in the county in 2018, much less than average of the previous five Augusts (1,600).
Data source: CIRB (Construction Industry Research Board), a service provided by the California Homebuilding Foundation http://www.mychf.org/cirb.html.