Foreclosure Notices Increase in Monterey County

Posted on May 5, 2009
Filed Under Foreclosure Homes | Leave a Comment

Foreclosure notices saw an increase — by as much as 38 per cent in Monterey County. A total of 2,622 households, which means one in 53 homes, have received foreclosure notice in the first half of 2009. In California, the figure stood at 1 for every 58 homes while the nationwide average is one in 159.

The RealtyTrac data highlighted that the housing market is still in trouble. Sandy Haney, CEO, Monterey County Association of Realtors, said the foreclosure numbers will only rise in the period. After all, the nation’s large lending firms have restarted foreclosures after a brief moratorium.

The surge in foreclosures will bring in opportunity for first-time home buyers, observes the California Association of Realtors. The good news for these investors is that the median sale prices of homes have kept on dipping. In fact, this price was $210,000 in February, which is 58 per cent less than in the previous year.

While the entire nation is witnessing sales activity, in the east and north Salinas and South Monterey County, agents are witnessing more hectic sales drive. In these counties, a single home is fetching multiple offers.

This has also helped bring down inventory — the number of single family homes dipped to 2281 at the end of the first half from 2600 in the previous year.

People are realizing that there are many ways to buy homes. As the number of sales rise, agents who had fled the market are returning to real estate. Unemployment will impact the housing market. Marilyn Dorman of the Housing Resource Center of Monterey County says with the rise in foreclosures, there will be a demand for rental assistance services and counseling centers to help prevent foreclosures. In fact, the firm’s assistance workshops are in huge demand now. Dorman had one housing counselor last year, now she has recruited three.

She has seen other significant changes also. Two years ago, she had clients who had very low income approach her. Today, she has clients with moderate income who are not haunted by bad loans but who are victims of the economy spinning out of control. The homes that they could afford now face foreclosure risk because of unemployment. Lenders have also adopted a wait-and-watch attitude to see how the stimulus package will impact the economy. Both Monterey and Salinas have come up with programs by which they could buy distressed properties.

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