REAL ESTATE

With all those office buildings in Southern California looking for tenants, next year will see a resulting slowdown in office construction.

So says Robert Dunham, president of the Newport Economics Group.

“Though the risk has risen significantly,” Dunham said recently at a Newport Beach seminar, there is no recession in the offing for 1988.

But Dunham projects the gross national product will dip from 3.5% this year to 2.5% in 1988. As a result, fewer jobs will be created, and about 5% fewer factories, offices, stores and the like will be built across the nation next year.

In five Southern California counties--Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego--construction of industrial buildings will remain strong, Dunham predicted. The value of all industrial buildings constructed will be about $1.2 billion, only a little less than this year, he added.

But construction of offices, hotels and retail buildings is already dropping by 20% this year, Dunham said. He expects the activity to decline another 5% next year to a total value of about $2.8 billion.