For those who missed it, the Sacramento Bee posted this article Tuesday. The 80 or so comments that follow the article make for a lively and sometimes ugly discussion. Not particularly cheery, but there is a silver lining. FORECLOSURES IN FULL BOOM
In ominous sign of more to come, capital region default notices also hit record highs during first quarter of 2007.
By Jim Wasserman - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 1:11 pm PDT Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D3
There’s a new kind of “For Sale” sign appearing in the region’s neighborhoods — offering property repossessed by the banks — and there will be more, according to the newest round of statistics.
There is no denying the rapid decline in Sacramento home values and the challenge that creates helping home owners refinance into sustainable home loans. My appraiser says he has seen a 10% decline in values in certain areas over the past 90 days. Two agents I know that previously specialized in the REO (“real estate owned” by banks) business, are back in that business again, with around 300 bank-owned properties listed between them.
Here are a couple of the article’s statistics:
DataQuick said 1,505 homeowners in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties lost their houses to foreclosure during January, February and March. That’s up from 865 the previous three months.
DataQuick reported just 143 foreclosures in the eight-county region in the first quarter of 2006.
Those are some pretty startling numbers. Andrew LePage, DataQuick analyst, goes on to say:
“This is probably the weakest (housing) market in the state, and showing some of the biggest year-over-year declines in home prices and some of the slowest sales.”
Where’s the silver lining?
The quick decline in prices does two critical things. It heals our market faster, and it pushes prices back into a range that is affordable to the people who live here. The population and incomes continue to grown. Demand will ultimately catch up. Smart buyers will think long term and start looking for their dream home now. Better to pay a little more to buy the perfect home than to buy a “deal” you have to sell in two years because it didn’t work for you.
Don’t be shy; leave a comment. I know you have an opinion.
Got a question? Email me.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 21st, 2007 at 8:50 am and is filed under Qualifying, Sac Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
2 Responses to “The Dark Cloud Over Sacramento Real Estate Has a Silver Lining”
Christopher Moses Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
In all honesty this is going to be a great year- those folks who put thier clients into bad loans are going to have a reckoning that will shake their foundations. And they will be going out of business. I am not saying this is good that folks are being foreclosed on, but I am saying that the unethical are not going to be in business long. It is a Great buyers market especially if you have serious investors that want ot hold property long term this is the time. The best of Success to us all-
Marc Brinitzer Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Chris, I couldn’t agree with you more. Long term thinking will protect people from the effects of this market on short term values.
People should focus on the home, not on the “deal”. Thanks for stopping by.
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