Foreclosure's silver lining:

Remember all those people who were locked out of home ownership because of surging prices?

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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Home sales in California surged 13.6 percent in August as a flood of foreclosures drove down prices. The figures released Thursday by MDA DataQuick showed 37,988 new and preowned homes were sold statewide last month, up 13.6 percent from August 2007 but down 3.8 percent from July.

The firm said 46.9 percent of all homes sold last month were foreclosed properties.

That helped send the statewide median home price plunging 35.3 percent to $301,000 during the year ended in August.

In the San Francisco Bay area, the median price tumbled 31.8 percent last month to $447,000, from $655,000 in August 2007.


There were 7,232 new and resale homes and condos sold in the nine-county area last month, down 0.9 percent from August 2007.

Sales were restrained by difficulty obtaining credit for the region's high-priced homes, MDA DataQuick president John Walsh said.

"Mortgage availability will eventually loosen up, we just don't know when, especially after the past few days," he said.

guffaw! almost 50% of the "sales" were foreclosures? as in many of those will still be available through REO portfolio's? so, basically, even at 1/3 off they can't come close to clearing the market. ugly.

Edited by humble1, 18 September 2008 - 04:55 PM.

setting yet even more rounds of foreclosures when the people buying these homes thought they were getting a "deal" only to see them fall further in price and value over the next few years. Its a total joke to believe we are anywhere near a bottom in house prices across the nation. CA or anywhere. 35% from the sky high prices is a pittance. You might see a bottom around 2014. MIGHT. This is going to go in up and down cycles, small waves up and larger waves down, to make the overall trend down for a long long time. Whats going to keep it artificially propped for years is the continued low low historically low interest rates that will continue. The dollar wil continue to go lower too. keeping it artificially propped even more. Until the dollar bottoms around .50 and until the governemtn comes to its senses and raises rates until we get some real pain, to flush out the garbage, and bubble, the housing market is a bad bad place to put your money as an investment. to think we get to value or a bottom in just a couple short years is laughable beyond belief !

setting yet even more rounds of foreclosures when the people buying these homes thought they were getting a "deal" only to see them fall further in price and value over the next few years. Its a total joke to believe we are anywhere near a bottom in house prices across the nation. CA or anywhere.
35% from the sky high prices is a pittance. You might see a bottom around 2014. MIGHT.

This is going to go in up and down cycles, small waves up and larger waves down, to make the overall trend down for a long long time.

Whats going to keep it artificially propped for years is the continued low low historically low interest rates that will continue.

The dollar wil continue to go lower too. keeping it artificially propped even more. Until the dollar bottoms around .50 and until the governemtn comes to its senses and raises rates until we get some real pain, to flush out the garbage, and bubble, the housing market is a bad bad place to put your money as an investment.

to think we get to value or a bottom in just a couple short years is laughable beyond belief !

Dood, out here in fly over country, real estate has already bottomed in many locales.

With mortgage rates where they are, you can buy for about what you can rent for in some places, on a net net basis and get more home.

California, Fla, Boston, NYC, and even Chicago are not the entire country.

Home sales in California surged 13.6 percent in August

Hooray.....housing crisis is over! Let us all go out and buy a bigger and better house!!
House prices ALWAYS go up!!! They are not making new "land" anymore!!!!