San Bernardino County Is Still Reeling From The Current Foreclosure Crisis.
With the population estimated at 2,028,013 San Bernardino County is the largest county in the United States by area, and is larger than each of the 9 smallest states. One could say that the bigger they are the harder they fall as a disturbing trend in the San Bernardino real estate market shows a huge surge in foreclosures.
Lenders filed close to 24,000 notices of default last year, up nearly 150% from 2006. When the dust settled some 7,727 homeowners lost their homes through foreclosure. This equates to roughly one in 20 sales and up nearly 720% from the previous year. This is a disastrous sign for San Bernardino County with figures this grim.
One local real estate expert, Michael Crites, a life-long resident, California Contractor for most of his adult life, and currently serving as a loss mitigation specialist and stop foreclosure specialist for San Bernandino County offers a "man on the street" analysis of the real estate market in San Bernardino. He states that having researched the climate of foreclosures in this county, it appears to be severe. People are losing their jobs, they have over leveraged there financial situation, and have no equity. Most homeowners depend upon two incomes to survive, if one loses their job, it snowballs from there.
Mr. Crites stated the root cause for the foreclosure problem in the county is falling property values, unemployment, residential construction slow down (almost stopped) except for commercial. Also adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) are now adjusting. He says the typical residence in foreclosure seems to be a mixture of low/high end homes. Fuel prices have had an impact in the High Desert area of Victorville - a lot of people are or have been commuting down the hill for years and now it has become a burden to go work, which is the income factor, which forces them to prioritize what's the most important expenditure: food, clothing, mortgage, and etcetera.
It is also believed the residents of the county have yet seen the worse. Michael says that over a period of time - maybe two more years, they will see residual effects for some time after that. He noticed once housing slowed down, too much inventory, people started to put money into their residences - then that dried up and people start holding onto their dollars. Media driven maybe, individuals are waiting to see what happens with the election, typical scenario of election time.
Is there any relief to be had? Mr. Crites offered that although the state has done nothing significant to alleviate the situation some local Real Estate Brokers are offering lower interest loans with the caveat being that to be eligible the applicant must have good credit, show proof of income, and demonstrate the ability to make the new payments.
With an overabundance of homes available, tighter lending rules and rising foreclosures there is no real solution presenting itself in San Bernardino at the moment. Until this situation turns around things are likely to get much worse.
Victim or Victor - the Choice is YoursYou could lose everything or you could come out of this with more than you ever thought possible. It all rides on your decision to contact us. The sooner you do that, the better the outcome. Get started and stop foreclosure now by answering a few questions for us . To Talk to Someone Now Call: 1-888-I-SAVE-80 There's no obligation. In fact the initial consultation is FREE. And that may be all you'll need to stop the foreclosure for good. Learn what you can do to avoid or stop foreclosure. |