O.C. Foreclosure Rate Eclipses 1991’s

Providing further evidence of the recession’s damage to real estate, TRW Redi Property Data released figures Friday showing that the volume of foreclosures in Orange County during the first half of 1992 surpassed all of 1991.

From January through June, $499 million worth of residential and commercial property in Orange County was reclaimed by lenders--$9 million ahead of the entire previous year, and more than double 1990’s $206 million.

The number of individual properties foreclosed in the county during the first half of 1992 was 1,315, compared to 1,584 in all of 1991, and 596 in 1990.

A more dramatic rise in dollar volume than in property volume indicates that foreclosures are hitting increasingly affluent areas, said Nima Nattagh, marketing analyst for Riverside-based TRW Redi, which monitors real estate trends in California. He estimated that about 70% of the foreclosures this year involved homes rather than commercial buildings.

In Mission Viejo, foreclosure volume leaped from $17.4 million last year to $52.2 million January through June of this year. Other cities experiencing large increases: Laguna Beach, from $4 million to $11.9 million; Buena Park/La Palma, from $20.5 million to $48.1 million; and Fullerton, from $900,000 to $12.3 million.

For the most part, Orange County’s oldest and most-established cities fared best, although they, too, suffered higher numbers of foreclosures this year. They include Santa Ana, Tustin, Garden Grove and Anaheim.

“The concentration of foreclosures was in the (southern) part of the county,” Nattagh said. “That area has experienced rapid development and has a greater proportion of first-time buyers.”