CAR: Median Home Price Down 37% in Sacramento, Sales Nearly Double

From the Sacramento Business Journal:

In the Sacramento region, the median price [per the California Association of Realtors] was $220,630 in June, compared to $351,620 a year ago, a reduction of 37.3 percent. Sales were up 95.5 percent year over year.

From CNNMoney:

California's Central Valley remains ground zero for foreclosure filings. Stockton, which is just east of San Francisco, had the highest rate of foreclosure filings of any metro area [in the second quarter], one for every 25 homes. That's seven times the national average. Riverside/San Bernardino, which is east of Los Angeles, had the second highest rate in the nation with one filing for every 32 households. Las Vegas, Bakersfield and Sacramento rounded out the top five.

From the Stockton Record:

Repossessions alone are up more than eightfold in San Joaquin County in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year, RealtyTrac reported. A total of 5,643 were repossessed in the first half of this year, up from 683 in the first six months of last year.

From the Stockton Record:

The bank has foreclosed on the owners of Stockton's Sheraton Hotel, preventing Regent Hotel LLC from scoring the big success it sought on Stockton's waterfront.
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Regent's venture also was sabotaged by the collapse of the housing market. None of the 42 condos atop the hotel, priced as much as $750,000 [and originally as high as $1.2 million], has sold. Eight buyers put down payments on condos, but the luxury units remain as yet unfinished. Another consequence of Regent's cash flow problems.

From the California Aggie:

Sue Greenwald expressed her disapproval of the additional growth and questioned the logic behind building these new sites during a time of declining housing prices. Greenwald cited data from the Sacramento Bee showing that between the first quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2008, Davis has seen a 26 percent decrease in home prices. She also pointed out that Bay Area home prices fell 27 percent in the last year. "That's pretty dramatic," she said. "These are areas just like Davis that are considered higher end and immune to decrease."

From the Sacramento Bee:

In Sacramento, Coldwell Banker real estate agent Viki Benbow...telling clients, "There's a much higher probability that interest rates will climb rather than go down." Benbow said this is why people shouldn't wait. But it's hard to tell. Others preach that higher rates will drive prices lower.

From the Sacramento Bee:

For all its efforts to become a technology center with a fully diversified economy, Sacramento remains a government town. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to reduce most state employees to minimum wage on Monday will make that painfully clear. State employees – all 112,500 of them in Sacramento, including education workers – account for 11 percent of the area's work force. Schwarzenegger's plan could remove $15 million each workday from the area economy, said Jim Zamora, a spokesman for Local 1000 of the Service Employees International Union.
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"Government jobs are considered steady paychecks – dependable, right? This could shake that somewhat," [UOP's Jeff] Michael said. That could translate into reduced spending at restaurants, clothing stores and the like, putting even more downward pressure on the region's troubled economy.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Overall, though, Sacramento housing-market officials liked the bill, including the provision that would allow at least 400,000 families nationwide to refinance their subprime mortgages with FHA programs. "It will help a segment of people, it is positive, it is a good thing for people who are struggling," said Pam Canada, executive director at the Sacramento office of Neighborworks Homeownership Center, a nonprofit group that assists troubled borrowers.

But John Arvanitis, president of Sunrise Vista Mortgage Corp. in Citrus Heights, said the provision won't help many who owe more than their homes are worth. "It's the proverbial rubber bone to the starving dog," he said.

From Wachovia's Q2 2008 Earnings Call (via Seeking Alpha):

...[T]he Central Valley and Inland Empire have both represented our biggest challenges, and actually have represented a little under 50% of all losses we've taken to date and that's where we are focusing on, much of our retention and activity.

From WAMU's Q2 2008 Earnings Call (via Seeking Alpha):

MSAs in the southeastern US such as those in Florida and Georgia and MSAs in the inland empire and central valley of California have recently experienced some of the worse housing market conditions and price declines in the country. While these MSAs make up only 20% of our option ARM exposure, they have contributed 39% of our total option ARM delinquency growth for the year.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Citing false advertising and other violations, the state of Washington has moved to revoke the business license of Roseville-based Paramount Equity Mortgage Inc.
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The documents name Hayden D. "Hayes" Barnard as president, co-founder and one-third owner of Paramount, and other company officials. Barnard's voice was frequently heard on Sacramento-area radio stations, touting Paramount Equity Mortgages.

From the Long Beach Press-Tribune:

The broker who bought Rep. Laura Richardson's Sacramento house at a foreclosure auction two months ago has dropped his lawsuit against her and her bank, allowing Richardson to reclaim the home. In a statement, Richardson's lender, Washington Mutual, said the litigation had been "resolved," but that the terms are confidential.

The broker, James York, also declined to discuss the matter. "I'm not supposed to say anything," he said. "I think you guys can figure out what happened. I only make business decisions and nothing else."

From the Long Beach Press-Tribune:

Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, joined the House majority this week in voting for the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act.