Median home price: $502,500 in October

Two bank-owned homes sold for $100,000 and $120,000, respectively, in October after fetching $500,000 and $525,000 during the boom.

Who were the selling and listing agents, the loan brokers, the lenders, the sellers and the buyers when these properties sold for five times their present value?

disabuser wrote:

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Who were the selling and listing agents, the loan brokers, the lenders, the sellers and the buyers when these properties sold for five times their present value?

Markets change. It was mostly our government that drove up prices.

wildman wrote:

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Markets change. It was mostly our government that drove up prices.

Oh really? I thought prices tripled because Santa Cruz suddenly became three times more 'special' overnight...that's what I get for listening to realtors and mortgage brokers. Go figure!

No, Disabuser is correct to ask these questions which we are never given answers to. The same players who got wealthy in the bubble selling to unqualified buyers are now making deals for cash investors crowding out others who want homes to live in. Many sales during the bubble should have be investigated for fraud. Any decent DA would have looked for patterns of behavior.

wildman wrote:

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Markets change. It was mostly our government that drove up prices.

It did say Watsonsville, but not what part. Alot of people wont touch property there now unless its almost free. Plus it was bank owned so the foreclosed owners could have easily gutted the place leaving a crappy shell. Then have their cousin buy it and put everything back. Purely speculation on my part.

Good to see more of the bigger picture such as foreclosure notices from the Santa Cruz Record and estimation of underwater houses. Any chance of getting data of the homes sold on the courthouse steps?

Watsonville did quite the drag on the over all county numbers. Glad we cashed out in 06.
The crazy bubble was caused by greedy Government meddling and deregulation AGAIN..bottom line. People just tried to make a buck off of it.

Same controlled cycles, different decade of sheeples who dont know anything about history, to game.
Nothing changes really.

"Buyers needed an income of $65,000 a year to qualify for a standard 80 percent loan to buy a home priced at the median in October, according to Tai Boutell of Santa Cruz Home Finance."

Why are they giving home loans to incomes of 65,000 a year on a house with a median price of $500,000 with 20% down. That is about $2,800 (at 6% interest rate) a month payment for someone making about $5,000 a month before taxes???? that is about half of your paycheck. I thought the rule was that you can afford a mortgage that is 1/3 your income. I am outraged that this is happening! I hope that I did my calculations wrong - someone please check the numbers! Is there another bubble coming! I hope that Santa Cruz Home Finance isn't making these sort of deals!

The government had the idea that everyone should be able to buy a home. The government insisted banks loan 100% of the sales price to make this happen. In so doing the government created a huge demand to own a home, thereby driving prices up to form a bubble, and consequently making housing less affordable. Now the government is attempting to support housing with tax credits. That is a stance which makes houses less affordable. I know most in Santa Cruz believe the more gov't the better, but not in this case.

[...]Fewer homes are available for sale. The number of listings -- 826 -- is down 30 percent from a year ago and the lowest in three years.[...]

Get real!

There is huge surplus of shadow inventory that the banks will be leaking out soon, outside of the mls.

There are 23 homes for sale withing a one block radius of my home - one just closed, another is in escrow. Of course this is not Watsonville.

You're 100% right yeaswecant LOL! dig the name..

The Mortgage brokers we know up here told us the banks freddie and fanny Etc.. release about 25 new REO homes on to the market every month or so to prevent a flood and glut on the market and to control price. Thats how it works here anyhow, we have less inventory of homes.

Jumby wrote:

"Buyers needed an income of $65,000 a year to qualify for a standard 80 percent loan to buy a home priced at the median in October, according to Tai Boutell of Santa Cruz Home Finance."
Why are they giving home loans to incomes of 65,000 a year on a house with a median price of $500,000 with 20% down. That is about $2,800 (at 6% interest rate) a month payment for someone making about $5,000 a month before taxes???? that is about half of your paycheck. I thought the rule was that you can afford a mortgage that is 1/3 your income. I am outraged that this is happening! I hope that I did my calculations wrong - someone please check the numbers! Is there another bubble coming! I hope that Santa Cruz Home Finance isn't making these sort of deals!

the boutells and their ilk are straightup criminals that need to be investigated.

leftthatshithole wrote:

You're 100% right yeaswecant LOL! dig the name..
The Mortgage brokers we know up here told us the banks freddie and fanny Etc.. release about 25 new REO homes on to the market every month or so to prevent a flood and glut on the market and to control price. Thats how it works here anyhow, we have less inventory of homes.

Thats because the Feds have been secretly giving out billions of dollars to foreign banks and favorite domestic. The Senate is scratching their heads as to what to do about that. Also Congress will publically give out as much money as banks want. The FDIC is already beyond broke with many more banks about to go under. That means congress will need to give the FDIC 500 billion that they've already approved and probably more in the future.
http://usawatchdog.com/
So yes they can, sit on REO.

In case you find the other link to long to read and want to get the minute blurb from Rep. Alan Grayson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Interesting how the mainstream media bury this.

Realtors are the left and right nutz of satan.

yes wrote:

<quoted text>
Thats because the Feds have been secretly giving out billions of dollars to foreign banks and favorite domestic. The Senate is scratching their heads as to what to do about that. Also Congress will publically give out as much money as banks want. The FDIC is already beyond broke with many more banks about to go under. That means congress will need to give the FDIC 500 billion that they've already approved and probably more in the future.
http://usawatchdog.com/
So yes they can, sit on REO.

Sure, but they can sit on the shadow inventory for only so long. 2010 is when the options ARMS (largely a CA problem) start to adjust and we all know these people chose the negative amortization option in addition to 100% financing. They have no skin in the game with a house 50% underwater, a non recourse loan, their walking.... Aggregate this with the existing shadow inventory and it makes for an interesting outcome for the bank/lenders and housing prices. Maybe the banks will get lucky and unload the remaining bits of the toxic mortgage crap on their books to the tax payer.

Not sure how much longer this can continue as the FHA is now the new subprime lender,
with a measly 3.5% down payment. The only difference now (rather than the bubble days )is that FHA makes up the majority of all the new loans, so when all the future FHA underwater homeowners that put 3.5% down decided to also walk, it is the tax payer that will take 100% of the hit, REO or not.

The government certainly is partially to blame, but certainly most blame should fall on irresponsible banks and realtors and homeowners. Remember the bidding wars from a few years ago. As soon as there was interest in a home, realtors advised their clients to offer more then the house was listed for. They explained home prices in all likelihood will continue to grow. Lenders were anxious to give 105% loan to value loans, and homeowners gambled on their home to also be an investment. Often, I am sure people simply didn't understand that the mortgage is only a part of their monthly payment, never figuring in the taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities and bond measures that renters are often unaware of. Realtors and lenders often do not disclose all of these costs. Especially when I asked about extra taxes/bonds, I was often told not to worry about it, without being given any particular numbers. This immediately put up a red flag in my mind. Future home buyers beware, ask lots and lots of questions, don't engage in bidding wars, if possible talk to your neighbors about all the special bonds being tagged on to home owners before you buy to avoid those nasty surprises.

A free market with free money will always spiral out of control and it doesnt matter what players you remove.
Did the government learn its lesson? No, print/give away trillions more. Whats the next number after trillion? We'll find out within 10 years.
Did the banks learn their lesson? No, ask for more bailouts.
Did the Realtors, learn their lesson? No, they dont eat unless they make a sale.
Did the homeowners learn their lesson? Sortof, they just watched many of their friends and neighbors get shafted for being the bottom of the food chain. But will eagerly step up and play the market game again if values start increasing.

yes wrote:

Thats because the Feds have been secretly giving out billions of dollars to foreign banks and favorite domestic.

boing

The Senate is scratching their heads as to what to do about that.