Posts Tagged ‘san joaquin’

Once upon a time it was taken for granted that real estate prices would go up. But reality proved to be contrary. Sellers are being forced to drop prices even at a heavy loss if the unit was bought in 2005 or 2006. The housing bubble, which had been getting bloated since 2002, has suddenly busted. It was a fall out from the foreclosure fiasco. Credit began to slow down and so who would or could buy houses? The confidence of many was shaken. Who knows whether prices would further fall or not? So there is no point in investing now. Rather before things get worse it is better to sell off.

Research shows that some of the worst hit areas are east Contra Costa and Alameda Counties together with Solana County and even San Francisco. The infection seems to be spreading all round the Bay area. San Joaquin County tops the list of affected areas with 1 in every 27 foreclosing during the first half of 2007. This is the highest ratio in the entire country. According to another online survey the Central Valley recorded a drop of 7.7%. It is the high-end houses that are causing the median to rise. The regular homes will not be sold until completing all those in the foreclosure listing. It is the foreclosed units that set the rate. A buyer will look at the foreclosed one down the street and give that offer with a take-it or leave-it attitude. Some are just testing the market and thereby adding to the list.

A lot of difference can be made if owners are willing to cut prices but some are stubbornly not doing so. Neither do they want to initiate any changes in the house. One house on Brighton Drive, which had been bought in 2004 for $430,000, was being offered for $419,000; most probably that would have to cut down to $399,000. This is the general trend and not an exception. The main factor that is affecting the market is escalating interest rate. The entire Bay area is affected. Most probably this is because here the house owners lack long-term experience or cash reserves to tide over the crisis. In other places like Silicon Valley the picture is not so grim because the people have the income and store to tackle the problem.

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Gang and drug parties have become the bane in Manteca. At one time people had thronged to light the fires of their hearths in the Central Valley in search of their dream homes. A curse seems to have brought down the pox of foreclosures – houses with neglected overgrowth and broken boarded windows are inviting the scum and grave diggers of society. The worst affected are the affluent new sections of southern and eastern Manteca. Here most of the 66 foreclosures are concentrated. Most of those who were buying houses for the first time preferred the valley to be more affordable than the Bay area. But they did not qualify for conventional loans.

Manteca and other cities are reeling under this socio-economic malaise which is a result of the foreclosure. There is a rise in gang operations, wild boisterous drug parties and activities of dangerous vagrant squatters. Politicians, law enforces and ordinary citizens are all at their wits end. The very quality of life is at stake.

Pressure is being put on mortgage holders to look after their units. Laws too need to be overhauled to give more teeth to civil authorities.

The sub-prime mortgage sector’s failure is the principal cause for this scenario. It was only when the numbers started rolling in that the concerned authorities woke up to the fact how extensively the net of sub-prime had spread its tentacles. Loans began to go delinquent. Prices of houses fell. There developed a job crunch.

In such a scenario who bothers to clean the backyard? Police complain of an increase in criminal activity. One family survived for few days the tragedy of death living without water or electricity. Units sitting on the limbo stage when it belongs to neither the bank nor the previous owner are the worst affected. It becomes a no-man’s land – a headache for the nearby neighbours. Pressure is being put on the banks and other lenders who now own the property to take proper steps to maintain the properties. Realtors opine that the situation will not improve but slowly slide down for the worse. Foreclosures are on the increase. San Joaquin and Stanislaus are one of the worst affected areas. Arsonists have become active. Lights and taps of abandoned homes are kept running. In desperation the neighbours are pitching in to maintain the the locality.

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There is hot solution for defaulters of mortgage payments facing foreclosures. The numbers have doubled in Alameda County, tripled in Santa Mateo and San Joaquin according to RealtyTrac.com.

63 years old Harrell was one of the unfortunate victims who got a foreclosure notice. But unlike others he did something different. He picked up the phone and dialed the toll free hotline (888) 995-HOPE. Harrell was not going to give up his 31-year-old home without a fight. A workable repayment plan was worked out for refinancing the loan he had taken in 2005. He continued to keep his hearth and home.

The Hotline was set up in June 2005 to give immediate foreclosure counselling. A national advertising campaign will now be kicked off to acquaint many others of the services at a time when foreclosures are rising at an alarming rate. In Alameda County the number has gone up to 783 from 338 a year ago.
Nearly half of those who receive foreclosure notices via mail never respond to the lenders because they feel that from that end no help would be coming. It was a general feeling that the lenders were mainly interested in taking over the property. But it is not always so – actually lenders want their money.

NeighborWorks America, a national non-profit organization initiated this help-line over the phone and reaches out a helping hand to these unfortunate victims. The hotline is the brainchild of Homeownership Preservation Foundation and NeighborWorks America. The latter teams up with over 240 community organizations to provide counsellings in matters of real estate, targeting mainly with low and middle income.

The California Association of Mortgage Brokers and the California Mortgage Bankers Association have lent their voice and tells the owners to contact lenders without delay.

As foreclosures rise so do calls to the HOPE hotline. Adjustable mortgage rates invariably rise after the completion of the period of low introductory payments. In the previous year the hotline received 24,000 calls from all over the country. Till date in the current year the calls have already shot up to 35,000.
Those seeking help should find out the local affiliate of NeighborWorks America. Housing counselors within housing development communities work jointly with them and give advice specific to each situation. Other sufferers need not wait for the advertisement campaign to start because the hotline is running. Pick up the phone and talk.

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