"Tidal Surge" in Bankruptcy Filings; Sacramento Median Falls Below $250,000

From the Sacramento Bee:

Despite strict regulations to discourage bankruptcy, the number of filings last year in Sacramento nearly doubled in a tidal surge that outpaced growth around the nation and left court officials expressing astonishment. In total, 17,397 people and businesses sought bankruptcy protection in a district that largely encompasses the Central Valley...While filings leaped by 100 percent in this region, they grew by 38 percent nationally...The figures provide a grim epilogue to a period that saw Stockton and other cities in the Central Valley report foreclosure rates that ranked among the highest in the nation.

Yet the housing downturn and the ensuing credit crunch have not loosened their grip in 2008. The number of cases filed in the first quarter is up 82 percent from the same period last year...If the year unfolds as it has begun, the district could rank among the nation's busiest bankruptcy courts.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Sacramento County's 1,501 March closings on new and existing homes combined were the fewest since March 1997, according to DataQuick. The tally was down 14 percent from the same time last year. Median sales prices also dipped to $247,000, a level not seen in the county since May 2003. Median prices are now 36 percent below August 2005 highs of $387,000.

From the Central Valley Business Times:

In the Central Valley, the increase in average asking [apartment] rent is even more moderate – up 1.3 percent in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, says RealFacts
...
"Analysts of the troubled single family home market, with its sub-prime loans and increasing number of foreclosures, have asked what happens to the people who have lost their houses. Some have speculated that they would move into apartments, but the evidence from the RealFacts survey suggests that this is not happening," [RealFact CEO Caroline] Latham says. There has been no increase in demand for apartments, as would be the case if former homeowners were turning into apartment renters, she says.

"In fact, in MSAs that lead the nation in foreclosures, there has also been a decrease in demand for apartments. So where did these people go? One answer may be that they are renting houses rather than apartments, and are thus part of a shadow market that is not currently being measured," says Ms. Latham.

From the Stockton Record:

The longtime Angelica industrial laundry plant at 1145 S. Sierra Nevada St. is expected to close for good June 7, leaving 123 employees without a job...The announced closure comes on the heels of a major layoff of 159 workers at competitor Sodexo's Metro Park Laundry in Stockton.
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More than 200 employees at TeleTech in Stockton were told last week their jobs will be eliminated after one of the Colorado-based outsourcing company's corporate clients reduced its customer service needs.