REAL ESTATE : Permits to Erect Office Buildings Continue to Drop

Permits to construct new office buildings in Orange County continue to take a dive.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, fell 13% in value through the first two months of the year, the Construction Industry Research Board recently reported.

The board said local governments issued only $37 million worth of permits for office construction through February, compared to $42 million in the first two months of 1990, which was also a relatively weak year.

Both locally and in many areas nationwide, the office market is overbuilt. Locally, office buildings have been running a vacancy rate in the low 20% range. Even in cities where there seemed to be more demand for office space, such as Anaheim and Santa Ana, developers until recently have had difficulty getting loans.

Still, office permits took even steeper plunges in other Southern California counties. The smaller San Bernardino and San Diego markets dropped more than 70%. Los Angeles, a much larger market than Orange County, was flat.