San Diego homebuilders had one of their most productive quarters in years, with nearly 3,000 new homes constructed, but housing experts say it still doesn’t come close to what is needed.

Construction of all residential housing — apartments, townhouses and single-family homes — was up 22 percent from the first quarter 2020 to the first quarter 2021, said the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California.

The comparison is colored by a slowdown in construction in March last year when the pandemic first hit, but the 2,830 new housing units is the highest quarterly total since the second quarter of 2018. If current trends hold, San Diego could be on track to exceed previous yearly totals.

Since 2015, San Diego County has typically built 9,500 to nearly 10,000 homes a year. The exception was 2019 when the county built 8,053 homes. It bounced back in 2020 with nearly 9,500 new housing units.

Most housing and building officials are not jumping for joy over the new numbers because it still is well below what they say is needed for the region, which still has a growing population and is adding jobs. Conservative estimates for how much new housing is needed, based on population increases, is 20,000 to 25,000 a year.

Borre Winckel, CEO of the local Building Industry Association, said building permits show the region is building half of what is needed, and what is constructed is high-end and not accessible to most of the workforce.

On the positive side, Winckel said the industry managed to keep building despite many obstacles that the association often cites: Community and political opposition to new housing, as well as the added cost of regulations.

San Diego County’s increase was led by multifamily construction, made up of apartments and for-sale townhouses. There were 2,040 new multifamily units, representing a 76 percent increase from the same time last year. Single-family home construction was down 32 percent with 790 new homes.

The building comes as housing costs are up in the county, particularly in the for-sale market. The median home price — including newly built homes, resale condos and resale single-family houses — hit a record $700,000 in April, a yearly increase of 17.8%.

Even if San Diego County manages to keep up its current pace of building this year, it is unlikely to reach housing boom levels. The county built more than 17,000 homes in 2004.

Nationwide housing shortages are often tied to a considerable drop in construction during the Great Recession. While it made financial sense for builders to hold off during the economic crisis, the population kept growing and, once the economy improved, it meant intensified competition for a limited pool of homes. From 2008 to 2010, San Diego County constructed 11,490 homes — lower than some yearly totals over the last two decades.

The California Association of Realtors predicts California will build 114,050 housing units in 2021, an increase of 13.6 percent from the previous year.

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar