Saturday, March 13, 2010

Appreciating The Intensity Of California Foreclosures In The Coming Years

By Jack Bennington

Looking at California foreclosures and their increasing rate in the Golden State is a necessary first step for anybody considering staying in or getting back into the real estate market out in California. It will be especially necessary in order to help state make its way through the recession and its budgetary issues. There are many different reasons for why California got to where it is, it needs to be said.

A number of experts in the real estate industry and in economics say that the problem with California foreclosures can be traced back to the mid-70s and the taxpayer revolt that ended up with the passage of California's Proposition 13. This anti-property tax initiative came into being in 1978 and was an attempt to limit what people thought were unrealistic and unwarranted increases in property taxes.

Whether or not Prop 13 was helpful or harmful to the overall health of the Golden State is a matter for conjecture an argument on both sides. What's clear at the present time, though, is that the Golden State has a real problem with increasing rate of foreclosures. Many people hope that state leadership can come up with solutions that address the issues and which are long-lasting.

It's a fact that most municipalities and states in the country have looked at tax revenue collection as a way to greatly increase the extension of public services. Many such services are laudatory though the current recession is making them unaffordable in many cases. California has led the nation in expanding a huge variety of public services, and of course its activities have spread eastward over time.

Of course, once the inevitable economic correction or downturn really gained strength in late 2008 people started to examine why California suffered so heavily. One aspect that they found was in the behavior of the real estate markets in the Golden State. The markets they are have been depressed and there have been relatively few buyers to purchase what turned out to be overpriced real estate.

Given that environment, it should have been accepted as a given that CA foreclosures would soon begin to rise from what was a steady and low level to where it is now. Large numbers of homes and other properties have been foreclosed and are sitting unsold and not generating anywhere near the tax revenues they would be generating if they were occupied and worth what they once were.

Out in the Golden State, as elsewhere, there's been an increasing acceptance of the idea that foreclosure might be a first resort rather than a very last resort. This cultural shift when it comes to foreclosure, at least on a purely economic level and leaving out the ethics of such a culture shift, is also helping to erode the amount of tax revenue that California had counted on for years.

All is not completely lost out in California, of course, because there have been signs that the rate of CA foreclosures has been stabilizing at least in the short term. Whether that short-term stabilization can evolve into a long-term environment remains to be seen. It will depend on how effectively California can get a handle on its budget issues, it seems. If so, California may just be the place to invest in again.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment