REAL ESTATE : Money Loaned for County Real Estate Jumps 23% in ‘88’s First Five Months

Here’s another indication of how fast home prices are rising in Orange County: The amount loaned by financial institutions for real estate purchases jumped 23% in the first five months of 1988, compared to the same period last year.

But the number of residential and commercial properties that changed hands increased only 7% from the beginning of 1988 through May, TRW Real Estate Information in Colton reported.

The jump in lending was in line with a 24% increase across Southern California. In Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, lenders made loans of $21 billion for real estate purchases this year, up from $17 billion last year.

In Orange County the figure was $4.2 billion in loans through May, up from $3.4 billion last year, TRW said.

The number of properties that changed hands in Orange County was 36,000 this year and 33,500 last year.

Across Southern California, 225,000 properties changed hands, up from 204,000 last year for a gain of 10%.

Los Angeles County actually had the strongest gain in real estate activity, with the dollar value of loans jumping 31% and the number of properties sold rising 16%.

San Bernardino was the quietest county so far this year, TRW said. Loan volume dropped 4.5% and the number of properties sold remained unchanged.