Western U.S. Housing Market - California

Top 20 California Counties Have Crucial Housing Market Decline:All the top California counties have suffered a great housing market decline over the last five years. The top counties average home prices have dropped an average of $300,000 through May 2009.

Causes for the decline in the California housing market

• Due to the recession in the economy, rising unemployment and increased foreclosures, the California housing market has been hit hard.

• The problem seems to trace back to 1978, when property taxes were frozen.

• Residents are unable to continue living their lavish lifestyles and are being forced to sell their homes for a much lower price then when it was purchased, due to the state’s and country’s economic struggles.

L.A. Housing Market

• Many parts of Los Angeles, assumed they would be immune to the economic downfall, top end neighborhoods such as Beverly Hills and Bel Air are facing the issues of the housing market head on.

• In 2009 the L.A. area market has deflated to an average decline of 18.2%.

Orange County Woes

• Foreclosures seem to be down for the relaxed luxury county and the selling times have improved, but only because asking prices have been lowered.

• Housing values within Orange County have dropped to 18.3% in 2009.

California Epicenter: Riverside

• Riverside, CA is considered one of the countries epicenters of the housing debacle.

• However, luckily for the Riverside community home sales have been increasing and housing deflation is beginning to stable due to tax credits for buyers, however those won’t last forever.

• When the tax credits run out, the housing deflation will increase once again. In 2009 the housing values have dropped 19.1%.

No Padre in San Diego

• The housing market in San Diego has crushed the community’s economy.

• However, property taxes fell for the first time since 1982, bringing $140-million in relief to homeowners. The county assessor cut taxes for 216,000 homes out of 225,000, therefore saving those homeowners about $1,300.

• San Diego’s housing value has fallen 16.1% in 2009.

Bay Area Blues

• San Jose home prices hit a peak in 2006, but have a long way to go in order to become stable. Values dropped 18.5% in 2009.

• San Francisco is seeing more rapidly deflated housing prices. Home values dropped 17.9% in 2009.

Oakland, Raided

• In Oakland foreclosures are out of control due to homeowners walking away from their mortgages, causing the housing inventory to summit, with few to no buyers.

• Oakland is looking to recover quickly, but suffered a 18.2% decrease in home value in 2009.

Problems in Fresno

• Homes are beginning to sell in Fresno due to lower prices and tax credits, triggered by record high foreclosures, with thousands of homes sitting vacant.

• Fresno has seen the most drastic housing value decline throughout the Golden State, with a 20.2% fall in 2009.

Years of Work in Bakersfield

• Bakersfield residents looking to buy new homes are having trouble receiving mortgages. Very few banks are giving home mortgages, and only for those with very high credit and large down payments.

• The mortgage issues in Bakersfield will take years to recover from, lowering values to 19.3% for 2009.

Lucky Sacramento

• With a spike of home sales, Sacramento residents are hoping for a rebound. However, this could be short lived.

• In 2009 the state capitol’s home value decrease is 15.7%

Market Overview : 2009City Decline

Los Angeles -18.2%

Riverside -19.1%

Inland Empire -19.1%

Anaheim -18.3%

San Diego -16.1%

San Jose -18.5%

San Francisco -17.6%

Oakland -18.2%

Orange County -18.3%

Fresno -20.2%

Bakersfield -19.3%

Sacramento -15.7%