Saturday, April 12, 2008

Trouble in Yuba City

From the Appeal Democrat:

Yuba-Sutter's unemployment rate weighed in at 12.2 percent — the third highest among U.S. metro areas...Sierra Cedar Products LLC, a Yuba County sawmill, shut down March 28, leaving 70 people out of work. Owners of a number of small retail stores also have given up.
...
[Erma] Olivio was laid off Nov. 29 after the patio-cover maker she worked for in Sacramento saw several months of plummeting sales. She has been unable to find another job that pays enough to keep up with her mortgage payments...Olivio says she is coming to terms with the fact that she could soon lose at least one of her two homes. The value of the house she lives in has decreased by roughly a third since she bought it two years ago. And she recently had to lower the rent on another property she owns in order to keep it occupied.
From the Appeal Democrat:
[The] retail community in Wheatland...is growing like a patch of wildflowers. The town of 3,000 has seen six new restaurants open in as many months. Also new: a bank branch, a Curves fitness center for women, a drive-through coffee kiosk, and Rodriguez's flower shop....

Cory Bartholomew, publisher of the town's community newspaper, the Wheatland Citizen, is a bit less optimistic. "We suddenly added all these businesses, and at the same time," he says, "the economy has slowed down." "I'm concerned," he says. Especially unrealistic, he says, is the number of restaurants now competing for the small community's dollars.

"It's difficult without a commensurate growth in population," Bartholomew says. Wheatland currently has a few thousand residential parcels that have seen little or no construction activity for the past two years. Owners are waiting for the housing market and construction industry to turn around.
From Bloomberg:
The proportion of U.S. borrowers at least 30 days late on their payments rose to 4.5 percent in March, compared with about 2.9 percent in the same period a year ago, according to data collected by credit reporting bureau Equifax Inc. and analyzed by Moody's Economy.com. Mark Zandi, chief economist at the Moody's unit, yesterday called the report "astonishingly bad.''

California's Central Valley and Inland Empire regions and Florida's southwest and panhandle areas were particularly weak, [Wachovia Chief Risk Officer Donald] Truslow said on March 12.
From the Modesto Bee:
Property taxes are due Thursday, but Stanislaus County auditors predict a startling spike in unpaid taxes. If trends hold, about 8 percent of what's owed won't be paid. That's about triple what is normal. "Eight percent is ridiculously high," said Todd Filgas, the county's property tax accountant. "We're having quite the excitement over here about it."
...
Last year, 6.42 percent of Stanislaus County property taxes weren't paid, and that was bad enough. "Since I came here in the late '70s, it had never been that high," said Ray Rassmusen, who manages the auditor's property tax division.

6 comments:

... said...

Wheatland?

Oh yea, its the next hot community after Lincoln. (Between Yuba City and Lincoln on 65)

"Hey guys, we'll be there as soon as we're done in Lincoln"

About 2015

Jacob said...

"Olivio says she is coming to terms with the fact that she could soon lose at least one of her two homes"

2 homes? lol, everyone (even patio furniture workers) was a realestate guru.

And I take it she is losing money on the rental every month...

Cmyst said...

I have two family members in the Marysville/Yuba City area and they are both crying about the cost of commuting now.
Both have considered jingle mail. In the case of one, the house is still affordable to him but he's ticked off that he's lost everything he put down on it and that he's now upside down. (But perversely, he can't understand that I throw my money away on rent instead of building equity by buying).
The other was able to afford his entirely working/middle class older 3 bedroom house on two very well-paid incomes. His problem is the marriage broke up, and neither of them can afford it on their own.
So, the ex took all the money out of the joint accounts, including her step-daughter's, trashed the house and dumped it back on him.

And no one listened to me in 2005 when I told them to just hold off and rent....

smf said...

Wheatland is nothing.

Go see satellite pictures of Patterson.

It looks like fully 1/2 the town was just built. Really!

And if you keep going east, you find the luxury golf community there as well. The mansions there are going for cheap!

Check it out.

Perfect Storm said...

Oh where to begin these stories reflect the next leg in the financial crisis, sorry Charlie or should I say Greg Paquin, but there is no bottom in sight.

Olivio was laid off Nov. 29 - sounds to me she should worry about making the payment on her primary residence rather than her rental property.

30 day lates increasing, wow that mean things are getting worse, which is a sure sign that foreclosure activity will increase dramatically.

Property taxes in Stanislaus not being paid to levels not ever seen before, wow I guess the general funds of all our local goverments will be taking a hit, that money is not coming back ever sorry to say to our public safety officials, but on the bright side, nope no bright side.

Oh and we are to believe all the realtor activity of the spring bounce that things are magically going to get better in the real estate market in order to ensure that a few uneducated realtors have their commission money, oh boo hoo I feel so sorry for them since they are such a key part of our economic environment, NOT!

We are right on track for a 50% decline by 2009 and that means Land Park and East Sac.

Jacob said...

Who would have guessed that your 50% decline prediction might turn out to be overly optimistic. lol