CLIPBOARD : Single-Family Home Futures

Housing permits, the herald of future home building, continue muted, at least on the single-family home side of the scale. In October, the most recent month for which information is available, single-family permits dropped 14% from their September level. That left the first 10 months at 3,345--51% below the comparable period last year and easily the lowest level during the last five years.

Major declines from last year’s levels in the county’s unincorporated areas as well as in the cities of Mission Viejo, Anaheim and Orange highlight the 1989-’90 difference. In fact, through the first 10 months of the year, the dips in both Mission Viejo and Anaheim, separately, are more significant than the combined total in all the cities that registered gains.

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

Jan.-Oct. Jan.-Oct. 1989-’90 City 1989 1990 Difference Unincorporated areas 2,868 1,557 -1,311 Mission Viejo 944 45 -899 Anaheim 798 108 -690 Orange 364 55 -309 Yorba Linda 433 188 -245 San Clemente 276 92 -184 Buena Park 125 7 -118 San Juan Capistrano 172 70 -102 Huntington Beach 163 85 -78 Fullerton 97 22 -75 La Habra 88 30 -58 Fountain Valley 38 6 -32 Santa Ana 78 56 -22 Irvine 45 32 -13 Villa Park 21 15 -6 Seal Beach 17 12 -5 Westminster 2 0 -2 Placentia 18 18 No change Garden Grove 11 12 +1 Laguna Beach 55 56 +1 Stanton 2 7 +5 La Palma 5 19 +14 Dana Point * 72 90 +18 Brea 4 37 +33 Costa Mesa 49 95 +46 Tustin 7 73 +66 Los Alamitos 4 71 +67 Newport Beach 72 235 +163 Cypress 2 181 +179 Laguna Niguel ** N/A 71 -- COUNTY TOTAL 6,830 3,345 -3,485

* New city for 1989 tabulations; 1989 data before June is included in “unincorporated areas” total. ** New city for 1990 tabulations; data before July is included in “unincorporated areas” total. JANUARY-OCTOBER COMPARISON 1986: 7,332 1987: 8,159 1988: 9,695 1989: 6,830 1990: 3,345 Source: Construction Industry Research Board