CLIPBOARD : Multifamily Home Futures
As the year turned into its second half, the market for builders of multifamily housing remained in a slump. In July, the most recent month for which information is available, permits for the construction of multifamily homes--condos, apartments, townhomes and the like--dipped to 237, a 65% decline from the previous month.
That dip brought the seven-month total for such permits to 2,180--64% less than the comparable total for 1990. It is also well below the January-July total for 1986-89.
Through the first seven months, just eight cities had issued more multifamily housing permits than they had during the same period in 1990. And only the 557 increase in Anaheim was significant.
On the other hand, 14 cities had lower seven-month totals--particularly Irvine. It is in the unincorporated areas, though, where the bottom has dropped out of the market. This year’s 596 permits is 83% lower than 1990’s comparable figure. Seven cities are holding the line on this kind of housing, having issued no permits this year as well as last during the first seven months.
Here’s how the cities stack up, listed from the largest decrease to the largest increase in permits issued:
Jan.-July Jan.-July 1990-’91 City 1990 1991 Difference Unincorporated areas 3,438 596 -2,842 Irvine 736 129 -607 Orange 380 25 -355 Garden Grove 268 26 -242 Tustin 379 149 -230 Cypress 78 8 -70 Dana Point 67 6 -61 Brea 55 2 -53 Westminster 53 3 -50 Fullerton 82 35 -47 Buena Park 73 40 -33 Santa Ana 30 6 -24 Newport Beach 47 24 -23 Stanton 14 6 -8 Huntington Beach 49 46 -3 Fountain Valley 0 0 No change La Palma 0 0 No change Mission Viejo 0 0 No change San Juan Capistrano 0 0 No change Seal Beach 0 0 No change Villa Park 0 0 No change Yorba Linda 0 0 No change Laguna Beach 0 2 +2 Placentia 0 2 +2 La Habra 2 6 +4 Los Alamitos 14 18 +4 San Clemente 12 23 +11 Costa Mesa 71 142 +71 Laguna Niguel * 0 82 +82 Anaheim 247 804 +557 COUNTY TOTAL 6,095 2,180 -3,915
*New city for 1990 tabulations; 1990 data before July is included in “unincorporated areas” total.
Source: Construction Industry Research Board
