CLIPBOARD : Housing Doldrums Continue

Orange County’s house-building slump continued in full force as the second half of 1992 began. During the first seven months, the most recent period for which information is available, 4,115 permits were issued for future building. That was a 10% drop from the same period of 1991, and the continuance of a five-year trend in the decline in total housing permits.

The overall decrease is almost completely a product of the sharp fall in multifamily housing permits. While the number of single-family home permits decreased about 1.5% from 1991’s total during the January-July period, the figure for future construction of apartments, condominiums and the like plunged 20%.

Here’s a look at the trend (Totals are for January-July period for each year):

Single-family Multifamily Total % Change from Year homes homes homes previous year 1992 2,408 1,707 4,115 -10 1991 2,445 2,128 4,573 -46 1990 2,419 6,095 8,514 -18 1989 5,178 5,159 10,337 -33 1988 7,490 7,892 15,382 -12 1987 5,990 11,477 17,467 -- Annual average 4,322 5,743 10,065 -20

Source: Construction Industry Research Board