ARIZONA DAILY STAR:  Mon., Oct. 19, 2009

Pace of new-home permits stays level

 New-home construction in Pima County continued at a slow but steady beat last month, with 221 building permits, the fifth month in a row there have been more than 200 monthly permits, a new report by housing analyst John Strobeck shows.  For the year, there have been 1,628 new-home permits, a pace that should lead to about 2,000 permits at year's end, Strobeck said. That's nowhere near the permit levels for the county in recent years.

Meanwhile, prices also remained relatively stable in September, with no major changes from August.   Strobeck said it could be a long time until things get dramatically better.

"It will be a while before the new construction market volumes will recover," he wrote in his report Friday. "In the meantime," he advised builders, "plan on operating at the level at which you are currently operating. It will be at least two years before we see any or much improvement in volumes."