Financial hemorrhaging continues

“We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics.” So declared F.D.R. in 1937 ... Paul Krugman, New York Times, July 9, 2007

The public of the north San Joaquin Valley remembers being told by its elected officials, planning staff with advanced degrees in urban planning, lending institutions, insurance companies and realtors (even those not elected to local land-use authorities), that our growth boom was all planned, it would pay for itself, and prosperity was right around the corner.

Today, the region is an open financial wound of unknown consequences. What does this really say about the quality of our business and political leadership? Land-use policy based on unprincipled greed is the only possible policy "in the real world"?

Badlands editorial staff
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7-8-07
Modesto Bee
Bidders beware...J.N. Sbranti
http://www.modbee.com/business/story/13768548p-14349914c.html

Another home foreclosure auction is headed to Modesto, and it's got potential bidders hankering for a bargain. Bidding rules will be different for the next big auction, scheduled by Hudson & Marshall for July 19 at Modesto Centre Plaza. And more auctions are expected to be held later this summer and fall. That's because lending institutions have repossessed thousands of Northern San Joaquin Valley homes, and they're eager to sell them any way they can.\

7-7-07
Sellers asking too much...Robert Bauer...Letters to the editor
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/opinion/story/13765764p-14347322c.html

"Homes out of Reach"...I would have thought that the article that followed would interview people priced out of the Merced-Atwater housing market, with a few decent data points to relate National City's "overpriced index" to local incomes and housing affordability...the sum of the presentation consisted of two parts: a local couple lamenting their inability to sell their home at a price above the area average...while at the same time complaining that the cost of living in Merced is "outrageous," and a local Realtor repeating the line, "It's a great time to buy,"... while at the same time complaining that the cost of living in Merced is "outrageous," and a local Realtor repeating the line, "It's a great time to buy,"while at the same time complaining that the cost of living in Merced is "outrageous," and a local Realtor repeating the line, "It's a great time to buy,"... While reporter Leslie Albrecht has written a number of times on the impact of excessive home prices, the real stories behind the headlines are only now becoming evident — of the thousands of local residents priced out of a home of their own, of recent homebuyers stuck with overpriced homes and abusive mortgage loans in a falling market, and the lender-mortgage broker-Realtor complex that has shamelessly promoted ever-higher housing prices for their own profit.

Modesto Bee
Realty market hasn't hit bottom yet, experts say...Ben van der Meer
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13765796p-14347331c.html

The Northern San Joaquin Valley's real estate market could turn around early next year, but probably not before sales numbers fall further. Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors, made that prediction at Friday's gathering of the Central Valley Association of Realtors at the River Mill. Median home prices statewide have continued to edge up...sales of homes at the lower end of the market have slowed dramatically...because first-time home buyers are having a tougher time getting financing. That has created an oversupply and further depressed prices...first-time buyers have difficulty getting loans because of the fallout in subprime loans. Appleton-Young said that in the long term, the valley and the state's real estate could rebound because jobs and population are rising. She specifically noted that Merced County is outpacing state job growth while San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties are adding nonfarm jobs at a more modest rate. Mike Kelly, a Realtor with ReMax Executive in Modesto..."The one thing sellers are very quick to do during a boom is adjust upward,"..."They're not so quick to do that when prices are falling."