Foreclosures in O.C. Down After Steep Rise for Six Years : Foreclosure Trend Reverses

For the first time since 1989, there is a decline in the number of Orange County home foreclosures, perhaps a sign that the real estate slump is beginning to end. Countywide, the number of foreclosures dropped 3% compared to 1994, with much larger declines in many cities. Data for 1995 estimated:

Orange County Foreclosures

1988: 848

1995: 5,885

Foreclosures by City *--*

1994 1995 % Change Anaheim 433 417 -3.8 Anaheim Hills 170 122 -28.1 Brea 42 47 +11.7 Buena Park/La Palma 179 189 +5.4 Costa Mesa 192 142 -26.1 Cypress/Los Alamitos 92 101 +10.3 Dana Point 136 100 -26.2 Fountain Valley 81 93 +14.5 Fullerton 208 196 -5.6 Garden Grove 403 335 -16.9 Huntington Beach 310 259 -16.6 Irvine 233 193 -17.1 La Habra 104 127 +21.7 Laguna Beach 105 93 -11.7 Laguna Hills 200 199 -0.7 Laguna Niguel 190 160 -15.6 Lake Forest 371 269 -27.4 Mission Viejo 111 98 -11.5 Newport Beach 130 117 -10.2 Orange/Villa Park 210 225 +7.0 Placentia 44 75 +71.1 San Clemente 366 217 -40.7 San Juan Capistrano 216 211 -2.5 Santa Ana 881 1,032 +17.1 Stanton 97 118 +21.5 Tustin 166 192 +15.7 Westminster 204 190 -7.0 Yorba Linda 121 130 +7.3 Not classified* 75 238 -- Total 6,070 5,885 -3.0

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* Includes Seal Beach

County Comparison

While Orange and Riverside counties had fewer foreclosures in 1995 than in the previous year, Southern California as a whole remained essentially flat: *--*

1994 1995 % Change Los Angeles 27,728 27,881 +0.6 Orange 6,070 5,885 -3.1 Riverside 8,520 8,124 -4.6 San Bernardino 8,756 9,250 +5.6 San Diego 5,319 5,425 +2.0 Five-county total 56,393 56,565 +0.3

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Source: TRW REDI Property Data; Researched by DEBORA VRANA / Los Angeles Times