HOME DESIGN : A SPECIAL ISSUE OF ORANGE COUNTY LIFE : NOBODY’S HOME

Although the vacancy rate throughout Orange County has been headed downward since 1987, just seven individual cities have followed the same pattern. Six have had steadily increasing rates and in 13 others the rate has moved up and down (there are no numbers available for Dana Point and Mission Viejo). A house, apartment or mobile home is considered vacant if it has

“final floors, doors and windows” and is unoccupied, according to Linda Von Rotz of the demographic research unit of the California Department of Finance. Most recently, Fountain Valley had the lowest rate, 0.75%, while Laguna Beach was highest, 12.66% Here’s how things have changed since 1987:

City Jan. 1987 Jan. 1988 Jan. 1989 DECLINING VACANCY RATES, 1987-1989 Cypress 1.54 1.51 1.20 Huntington Beach 2.67 2.54 2.39 Orange 2.88 2.50 2.09 Placentia 3.98 3.74 3.49 San Clemente 7.74 6.16 5.80 Stanton 1.98 1.55 1.27 Westminster 3.16 2.78 2.78 Unincorporated Areas 4.63 3.81 2.43 GROWING VACANCY RATES, 1987-1989 Anaheim 1.34 2.08 2.84 Garden Grove 1.63 1.63 1.75 Laguna Beach 9.35 11.57 12.66 La Habra 2.64 2.76 3.34 San Juan Capistrano 9.51 9.68 10.59 Yorba Linda 4.61 4.84 5.65 GYRATING VACANCY RATES, 1987-1989 Brea 6.87 8.03 6.25 Buena Park 2.01 1.85 2.25 Costa Mesa 1.48 1.00 1.06 Fountain Valley 0.96 1.33 0.75 Fullerton 3.50 3.60 2.98 Irvine 1.75 1.50 1.76 La Palma 1.43 1.37 1.60 Los Alamitos 1.82 1.81 2.19 Newport Beach 9.41 8.51 8.53 Santa Ana 3.73 3.27 3.72 Seal Beach 3.35 3.46 3.28 Tustin 3.09 4.20 2.03 Villa Park 0.85 1.16 1.10 COUNTYWIDE AVERAGE 3.41 3.31 3.13

Note: There are no figures available for Mission Viejo and Dana Point.

Source: California Department of Finance, Population Research Unit