REAL ESTATE

Permits Plummet: By the end of April, 1989, building permits for Orange County office buildings had a total value of $145 million. In a measure of how much things have changed, permits totaled not quite $67 million at the end of this April.

It’s the county’s overbuilt office market, the recession and the lack of capital to build that account for the dramatic change. With the county’s newer and bigger office buildings having an average vacancy rate in the low 20% range, it’s not likely a lot of office buildings will get built in the near future.

The slump actually began last year: By April, 1990, permits had climbed to only $70 million, not much more than this year’s total. The figures are from the Construction Industry Research Board, which tracks permits, a good indicator of construction activity.

And it’s not just offices: Retail stores, which saw $71 million worth of permits issued by April, 1990, went through the floor this year with only $26 million worth of permits issued. Permits for factories, warehouses and other industrial buildings were also down, from $30 million last year to $11 million this year.