Housing: Semi-Panic in Orange County?

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Orange County, Calif., residential real estate market was turning positively bubbly:

Foreclosed house draws 135 offers

At the height of the boom, a Garden Grove home sold for $760,000.

So when the two-story house on Mary Hill Avenue went back on the market this year for just $386,100, offers came pouring in.

In three days, 135 buyers had entered bids. By the end of the week, a deal was signed for $501,000 — $115,000 over the asking price. (An Anaheim home made news recently after it got 63 offers.)

That many offers is an anomaly, said Carl Wawrina, sales manager for Empire Realty, Funding and Investments in Long Beach, which listed the Garden Grove property, a foreclosure being resold by a bank. Most of the repossessed homes Empire Realty lists get from one to 30 offers, he said.

Even 30 offers sounds like a lot. . .

Of the 135 offers for the Garden Grove property, by the way, 25 were all cash—including the eventual buyer’s. . . .

Comments

[Mark Bern:]

When the value paid for a house drops by a whopping 34% in less than three years, how is it that we are supposed to get excited? For most people that would mean that most, if not all, of their equity has been wiped out.

Just because forclosure houses are being priced below market and are attracting numerous offers from investors is not how I would define a recovery. When I only stand to lose 20% of the equity I thought I had insead of 34%, then let me know that there is really something going on. I am the American consumer! And I am staying home, continuing to cut expenses, and trying to save to make up for all the losses I've experienced in my retirement nestegg. Wake me up when it's over.

Jul 16 01:15 PM

[derryl:]

This article shows that not everyone is broke and if you have money in a bust you can get some good deals. That's how it's supposed to work and it's nice to see it happening.

Jul 16 11:21 PM

[hpski:]

When I lived in O.C. 25 years ago, most people referred to Garden Grove as "Garbage Grove". Since then did the city council upgrade building codes & zoning? Probably not. I wouldn't have given more than $200,000 for the best house there.

Jul 17 10:25 AM

[Troyhector:]

I think with the rise in unemployment rates and inability of the helpless borrowers to repay the loans, mortgage delinquencies are on the rise. The unemployment rate in the nation, which stands at 9.4% currently, may even increase to alarming double digit number making the financial situation even worse for the borrowers to repay. The layoffs of many workers have been permanent and hence, their hopelessness in recovery of the jobs or helplessness to repay mortgage over time looks bleak and they resort to foreclosure than choosing to invest or borrow more money on something that they are not sure whether they would be able to afford in the long run.
This puts forth a question whether the lawmakers are intelligently tackling the problem.

Read more : www.housingnewslive.co...

Jul 17 02:04 PM