Foreclosure Central In The Valley

My fellow blogger Anita Chabria  just wrote a post about foreclosures based on Property Shark’s Foreclosure Report for August 2008. And guess what? Once upon a time, Palmdale/Lancaster was the only area leading the pack in foreclosures, but several zip codes in the Valley are placing in the top five trustee sales for August.

They include Sylmar for third place, with a total of 103 new trustee sales. The average amount owed on a home is $402, 687. Pacoima takes fourth place with a total of 100 new trustee sales. The average amount owed on a home is $378, 491. Anyone ever been out to Sylmar or Pacoima? No offense to anyone who lives there, but they’re both way out in the northern part of the San Fernando Valley – right before you make your departure to Valencia.

North Hills took the #15 spot with 58 new trustee sales. The average amount owed on a home there was $403,615.

According to the report, many of these homeowners paid double what their homes are worth now. (Yikes!) The foreclosed homes were mostly purchased from 2005 through the first half of 2007. For instance, the July stats say that in the 91432 zip code (Sylmar), homeowners who paid $520,519 for homes that are now worth $326,798. (That’s not quite double, but it’s still a painful drop.)

Check out the charts for yourself. (Click to enlarge.)