djc
06-01-2008, 02:43 PM
In foreclosure city, signs of life amid low prices
Stockton, Calif., sees multiple (super-lowball) offers and great rental rates
STOCKTON, California - In some areas of California, so many foreclosed homes are available to buy on the cheap that real estate agents are discouraging prospective sellers from even putting their houses on the market.
Perhaps the most extreme example of this is Stockton, about 85 miles east of San Francisco, where roughly three of every four homes for sale are in or on the path to foreclosure.
The city's resale market is "pretty much gone," said Cameron Pannabecker, owner of Cal-Pro Mortgage Inc.
"I don't know an agent today who would take your listing unless you're a hard-luck case. There is just too much competition," Pannabecker said. Properties that at the peak of the market two years ago were selling at $500,000, or appraised at $500,000, are now selling for $200,000, he said.
And because foreclosures dot all areas of Stockton, buyers have their pick of properties, said John Knight, a professor of finance and real estate at Stockton's University of the Pacific Eberhardt School of Business. "Honestly, there isn't a huge amount of difference between a foreclosed home and a regular home than the prices," Knight said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24883012/
Stockton, Calif., sees multiple (super-lowball) offers and great rental rates
STOCKTON, California - In some areas of California, so many foreclosed homes are available to buy on the cheap that real estate agents are discouraging prospective sellers from even putting their houses on the market.
Perhaps the most extreme example of this is Stockton, about 85 miles east of San Francisco, where roughly three of every four homes for sale are in or on the path to foreclosure.
The city's resale market is "pretty much gone," said Cameron Pannabecker, owner of Cal-Pro Mortgage Inc.
"I don't know an agent today who would take your listing unless you're a hard-luck case. There is just too much competition," Pannabecker said. Properties that at the peak of the market two years ago were selling at $500,000, or appraised at $500,000, are now selling for $200,000, he said.
And because foreclosures dot all areas of Stockton, buyers have their pick of properties, said John Knight, a professor of finance and real estate at Stockton's University of the Pacific Eberhardt School of Business. "Honestly, there isn't a huge amount of difference between a foreclosed home and a regular home than the prices," Knight said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24883012/