CLIPBOARD : Single-Family Home Futures

The new year opened on a low note for Orange County home builders. Just 72 permits were issued in January for new single-family homes--the lowest monthly total in five years. It was also the third consecutive month in which these permits settled in the double-digit range, also something that had not happened in the five years prior to November, 1990. The 72 permits issued in January represent an 86% decrease from last January’s total.

Laguna Niguel was the city with the highest amount of activity in January, an anemic 13 permits, while 16 cities issued none. Contrasted with January, 1990, 12 cities and the unincorporated areas issued fewer permits, while only Costa Mesa and Mission Viejo issued more--a combined total of eight.

Here’s how the cities stack up, listed from the largest decrease to the largest increase in permits issued:

January January 1990-’91 City 1990 1991 Difference Unincorporated areas 284 30 -254 Yorba Linda 58 0 -58 San Clemente 59 3 -56 Santa Ana 34 1 -33 Orange 28 1 -27 Dana Point 13 0 -13 Newport Beach 14 2 -12 San Juan Capistrano 10 1 -9 Laguna Beach 10 2 -8 Anaheim 11 5 -6 Huntington Beach 5 3 -2 Buena Park 1 0 -1 La Palma 1 0 -1 Brea 0 0 No change Cypress 0 0 No change Fountain Valley 0 0 No change Fullerton 1 1 No change Garden Grove 0 0 No change Irvine 0 0 No change La Habra 0 0 No change Los Alamitos 0 0 No change Placentia 0 0 No change Stanton 0 0 No change Tustin 0 0 No change Villa Park 0 0 No change Westminster 0 0 No change Costa Mesa 2 5 +3 Mission Viejo 0 5 +5 Laguna Niguel* N/A 13 -- Seal Beach 0 ** -- COUNTY TOTAL 531 72 -459

* New city for 1990 tabulations; 1990 data before July is included in “unincorporated areas� total. ** No data available; estimates used to obtain county totals. N/A: Data not available Source: Construction Industry Research Board