January 28, 2008

At Least You Didn’t Move to Stockton

So, it is official…Stockton is the foreclosure capitol of America. According to a 60 Minutes report, with a clip airing on Yahoo, this Central Valley town has the dubious honor of being in the worst real estate shape possible at this point in time. Recordnet.com reports that foreclosures are up 90% over last year in San Joaquin County as a whole, and many of these appear to be in the newer developments. The 60 Minutes clip showed a realtor driving through Westin Ranch, telling the reporter that 2 out of 3 of the homes in that development were in foreclosure or owned by people in distress. The number of sales signs must be staggering, as are listings for agents. Kevin Moran, the agent interviewed, has 102 listings at the moment, all in foreclosure.

Here are a couple examples of real estate available on the cheap:

3664 Higgins Avenue, Stockton
4/2, 1948 sf, 3 years old, near golf course
$279,900

2315 NE Hydrangea Drive, Stockton
3/2, 1607 sf, 1 year old
$216,950

9118 Bainbridge Place, Stockton
3/2, 1503 sf, 17 years old
$209,000

NEWS:
For those of you with friends or relatives on the “other” coast or with intentions of moving to Boston or Washington, DC, Redfin has launched Sweet Digs blogs in both cities. The Boston blog covers the South End, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Beverly, Salem, Brighton, Brookilne, Somerville and Cambridge. The DC blog covers McLean, DC, Loudoun County, Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Silver Spring. A big shout out to our new bloggers!

BONUS: Animated clip “Buy America!” by Mark Fiore. Hilarious.

Recent Sweet Digs Posts:
Less Is More For Berkeley Buyers As Prices Are Cut By 15% And More
SF: The Aged Listing
Rain Won’t Stop this Marin Market
Will the Tax Rebate Stimulate the Economy As Planned?
Are You a Non-Conformist?
“Token” is the Word of the Day…
SF and Daly City: Vote For Change!
Breaking the $500K Barrier in San Jose
Walnut Creek Market Weakens
$1 Million To Spend: What’s Better, The City Or The (Non) Burbs?
Selling Below Last Sales Price in Marin


  • Ed
    Um, that recordnet article was from 2006???
    Maybe you meant this one:

    http://www.recordnet.com/apps/...
  • Red
    So many of those new homes were sold with exploding loans: a builder buydown of the interest rate phasing out over the first few years: like 3% year 1, 4% year 2, 5 % year three and market 1 year ARM from then on. The ads said
    "Nothing down, payments LESS THAN RENTING!"
    Now those areas are in a death spiral; once one home is REO and sold for far less than purchase price, then all the homes are just like it and are instantly valued at the new low price. Anyone who might buy sees prices going down and decides to wait for the bottom, and the next guy who wants the sell must keep lowering the price ... down down, down.
    Now everybody in the neighborhood is underwater and is nailed to the house - can't afford to sell because they would have to bring $100,000 to the table to pay the mortgage off and the Realtor, can't refinance because they are underwater, and even if they did the payments are higher.
    The bottom is when it really is cheaper to own than renting, with a realistic 6.5 % mortgage.
  • I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.

    Mike Harmon
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