Foreclosures in the Los Angeles area dropped 18 percent in August, the second time in three months that foreclosure numbers in L.A. have declined after hitting record highs, according to Property Shark.
No doubt, many in the real estate industry will use this information to predict that we are at or near the bottom of the market. And truthfully, there have been several other signs that a bottom may be here -- particularly a noticeable increase in buying activity beginning in mid-July and continuing through August.
But there’s other reasons to be skeptical of a bottom. The August foreclosure numbers in L.A. are still a 159 percent increase over August 2007. And nobody is claiming that it’s getting easier to get a loan. It is in fact, getting harder.
Regardless, the real estate market is unquestionably considerably much different than it was earlier this year as foreclosures began to really take off in L.A. Through much of the early part of the year, as foreclosures mounted, homeowners in financial distress couldn’t sell their homes even if they wanted to. That’s no longer true.
There are buyers snatching up discounted properties. It seems more buyers than ever have come off the sidelines to put bids on homes.
But for many, the best areas of Los Angeles remain out of reach, and are likely to stay out of reach. While foreclosures have trickled into prime areas, and prices in prime areas have come down some, the biggest price drops and the biggest foreclosures remain in the less desired areas. Just take a look at the Property Shark list of top 15 foreclosure zip codes in Los Angeles county:
No doubt, many in the real estate industry will use this information to predict that we are at or near the bottom of the market. And truthfully, there have been several other signs that a bottom may be here -- particularly a noticeable increase in buying activity beginning in mid-July and continuing through August.
But there’s other reasons to be skeptical of a bottom. The August foreclosure numbers in L.A. are still a 159 percent increase over August 2007. And nobody is claiming that it’s getting easier to get a loan. It is in fact, getting harder.
Regardless, the real estate market is unquestionably considerably much different than it was earlier this year as foreclosures began to really take off in L.A. Through much of the early part of the year, as foreclosures mounted, homeowners in financial distress couldn’t sell their homes even if they wanted to. That’s no longer true.
There are buyers snatching up discounted properties. It seems more buyers than ever have come off the sidelines to put bids on homes.
But for many, the best areas of Los Angeles remain out of reach, and are likely to stay out of reach. While foreclosures have trickled into prime areas, and prices in prime areas have come down some, the biggest price drops and the biggest foreclosures remain in the less desired areas. Just take a look at the Property Shark list of top 15 foreclosure zip codes in Los Angeles county:
1 comments:
Great information. We have been networking with different real estate clubs looking at deals that take advantage of the market place and found a few good ones. Have you ever hear of Stone Equity Group? They seam to have some good niches in discount condos, duplexes and multi-family. Their web is www.stoneeg.com.
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