Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. saw record orders for its newly built homes in the fourth quarter, no thanks to Orange County and the rest of Southern California.
Regional orders were off 36%, due to slower sales in Orange and San Diego counties, Standard Pacific said. Orders were up in the Inland Empire and Ventura.
Unlike past declines, availability wasn’t an issue. Standard Pacific was selling at 27 Southern California housing developments in the fourth quarter, three more than in the year-ago period.
That left Arizona, Northern California, Texas and the Carolinas to pick up the slack. In all, Standard Pacific reported 2,486 orders for the quarter, a 15% gain from the year-ago period.
In Arizona, orders were up 130% in the quarter. The total includes 82 orders from five housing developments at a Tucson division acquired in August 2004.
In a shift from the past few years, Southern California made up only a small part of Standard Pacific’s orders in the fourth quarter.
Northern California, Florida and Arizona combined made up 70% of orders in the quarter.
