New-home permits for the city of Bakersfield, California, have hit a five-year high on a month-over-month basis, with 1,450 permits issued in September—the highest number recorded since 2016.
The city has received a surge in demand for new homes, according to The Bakersfield Californian’s Sam Morgen, with local Realtors reporting multiple offers on nearly every home on the market. While this could be attributed to Los Angeles buyers leaving to find larger homes at lower costs for remote work, Bakersfield Development Services director Christopher Boyle has said he has not seen the data to support this claim.
A part of the rise in permits, which builders must obtain before constructing new houses or home improvement projects like a backyard swimming pool, can be attributed to an extension the city granted developers at the beginning of the pandemic.
After COVID-19 struck, the city lengthened the time in which builders needed to begin their projects after submitting a permit application. Throughout the last few months, many of those projects have started, and fresh construction projects have piled on top. With the two trends converging, city building reached a peak in October.
