REAL ESTATE

Lots of Big Loans: Meanwhile, those big deals just keep on coming, even though vacancy rates in many commercial buildings are high and big tenants scarce when stacked up against the amount of space for rent.

Dataquick Information Services in La Jolla says that major real estate loans made in Orange County through September were up 18% over last year and totaled $6.3 billion. That was less than Los Angeles’ $8 billion--down 9% from last year--but far more than San Diego’s $4.3 billion, up 2%.

Altogether, 343 major loans were made in Orange County so far this year.

Dataquick said the loans added up to nearly $37 billion through September, or 10% more than last year.

The firm said the figures show that there’s still confidence in the California real estate market. A lot of the money being loaned today, the firm says, is for purchasing buildings or land, while many of the loans made in 1987 and 1988 were refinancings in which companies got out of expensive loans in favor of cheaper money.