Single-Family Housing Future

Construction of single-family homes in Orange County is apparently going to be at a much slower rate than it has been. Through the first five months of the year, the most recent period for which information is available, just 1,671 permits for single-family homes were issued. That’s a 54% decline from the same period of one year ago and the lowest total for any of the last five years.

Compared to the first four months of last year, 17 cities this year have lower totals, as do those parts of the county that are unincorporated. There are higher totals for nine cities, but large declines in Mission Viejo and Orange, as well as the unincorporated areas, easily offset those gains.

Here’s how permit activity in all the cities compares to last year’s first five months, listed in order from largest decline to largest gain:

Jan.-May Jan.-May 1989-90 City 1989 1990 Difference Unincorporated areas 1,633 863 -770 Mission Viejo 689 45 -644 Orange 295 45 -250 Yorba Linda 239 117 -122 Huntington Beach 121 28 -93 La Habra 87 3 -84 San Juan Capistrano 128 48 -80 Fullerton 58 7 -51 Irvine 43 25 -18 San Clemente 89 82 -7 Anaheim 97 91 -6 Seal Beach 10 5 -5 Buena Park 8 4 -4 Fountain Valley 6 4 -2 Villa Park 8 6 -2 Westminster 2 0 -2 Garden Grove 3 2 -1 Laguna Beach 27 26 -1 Los Alamitos 0 0 No change Cypress 1 4 +3 Santa Ana 31 34 +3 Stanton 1 4 +3 Tustin 0 10 +10 Placentia 0 18 +18 La Palma 0 19 +19 Newport Beach 32 55 +23 Brea 4 34 +30 Costa Mesa 10 50 +40 Dana Point * 42 -- Laguna Niguel * * -- COUNTY TOTAL 3,622 1,671 -1,951

* Included in “unincorporated areas” Source: Construction Industry Research Board