Multifamily Home Futures

One half of the home-building futures quotient is holding up in Orange County. While the year-to-date number of permits for single-family homes has sunk to fewer than 2,000, multiple-family activity is holding steady. During the first five months of the year, 3,969 multifamily housing permits were issued, a 10% increase above last year’s comparable time period.

The 1988 and 1989 numbers, though, rank significantly lower than the three years before. And this past May, the most recent month for which information is available, was the worst of any of the last five years.

Compared to last year, there has been increased permit activity in 12 cities, most notably Irvine and Orange. Another 10 cities (and the unincorporated areas) have fewer permits than last year. There were six cities with no change--no permits issued during either year.

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

Jan.-May Jan.-May 1989-’90 City 1989 1990 Difference Irvine 131 736 +605 Orange 68 378 +310 Garden Grove 108 248 +140 Cypress 12 71 +59 Dana Point * 0 46 +46 Brea 14 52 +38 Westminster 12 40 +28 Costa Mesa 14 36 +22 Anaheim 198 216 +18 Los Alamitos 0 14 +14 Stanton 0 14 +14 Buena Park 53 64 +11 Fountain Valley 0 0 N/C Laguna Beach 0 0 N/C La Palma 0 0 N/C Seal Beach 0 0 N/C Villa Park 0 0 N/C Yorba Linda 0 0 N/C San Juan Capistrano 4 0 -4 La Habra 20 0 -20 Huntington Beach 73 44 -29 Placentia 35 0 -35 San Clemente 51 12 -39 Tustin 111 65 -46 Unincorporated areas 1,894 1,836 -58 Santa Ana 147 28 -119 Newport Beach 166 28 -138 Mission Viejo 154 0 -154 Fullerton 331 41 -290 COUNTY TOTAL 3,596 3,969 +373

* New city for 1989 tabulations; 1989 data before June is included in “unincorporated areas” total.

N/C: No change

Source: Construction Industry Research Board

Multifamily Home Futures 1986: 6,241 1987: 7,792 1988: 5,153 1989: 3,596 1990: 3,969