Stockton, Riverside/San Bernardino (which is it? They are two different cities; I’m assuming they mean Riverside in San Bernardino County), Bakersfield, and Sacramento ... four of the top ten. But readers may not be aware that NONE of those markets are particularly “hot” by California standards — Riverside was indeed HOT about four years ago. We pondered buying there — you could get a lot of house for not much dough and still be (more or less) in So Cal. Stockton, Bakersfield, and Sacramento are Valley towns, a whole different ballgame. Hot markets to a point, but nothing compared to the “hot” that was coastal and So. Cal. until about three years ago. Still, it’s an interesting article. I’m glad you posted it.
It also sounds like the home prices will get back to reality. Some people lost their butt speculating.
When I bought my first home, the lender wanted to write me a mortgage for twice what I thought I could afford.
I did not fall for the bait but I think most people do.
and conveniently lien stripping provisions are gone under the new bankruptcy code.
This is where an undersecured lenders loan can be bifurcated into secured and unsecured portions with the unsecured portion removed from the colateral and moved to the unsecured creditors.
This was done mostly with 125% loans (forgot about those) in hot markets.
I think most of California is going to get hammered.. for the simple reason that the average person can’t afford the average home.
I think coastal, as in literally on the water or a block away in a posh neighborhood could be surprisingly ‘sticky’. There is lots of super rich people out there in this new globalized American economy(especially in California), that make enough to pay the costs with traditional loans or even cash.
Texas, Nevada, Florida and Colorado top the list.
Oh boy....
August 14 2007: 2:52 PM EDT
Dow tumbles 200 as selloff accelerates
Major gauges slump as investors worry about Wal-Mart, bank stocks, mortgage market and credit crunch.