Local housing permits at highest level in 2 years

By Jennifer Davies, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 5:05 p.m.

The number of housing permits in San Diego County last month rose to their highest level in two years.

There were 558 residential permits issued in June, a jump of almost 63 percent from the previous year when 343 permits were pulled. It’s also a 27 percent increase from May, which had 440 housing permits. For the first six months of the year, the total number of residential building permits was 2148, a 28 percent increase from the first half of 2009.

While the increase is heartening, the numbers are far off their peak, said Alan Gin, an economist at University of San Diego.

“This will probably be the second worst year for building permits in San Diego County — second only to last year,â€