San Bernardino Bank Foreclosures are Drawing a Lot of Home Buyers and Investors

Posted in Bank Foreclosures | June 16th, 2009

bank foreclosure

With the ballooning rise in bank foreclosures in San Bernardino coupled with the unprecedented unemployment rate, it may be possible that the local owners could turn into stray families as victims of the reeling economic depression. With lack of funds, foreclosed homes and unemployment problem, they are nowhere to go except to expect some help from the government. Even their furniture and equipment will be sold in a garage sale at very low prices in order to survive for a little longer.

Expert economists now fear that the unparalleled surge in bank foreclosures may not only be a weak property market but a disguised hurricane that could eventually sweep the whole economy of America. A renowned economics professor at the San Bernardino Cal State predicted that a forthcoming strong force can smash the whole County into a flat bed considering that bank foreclosures have increased even before unemployment problem has existed.

Residents of San Bernardino have become worried of the ongoing termination of jobs in the housing and financial sectors. They fear that one day, they may also be out of job in the wake of deepening economic recession. At the moment, residents are trying every effort to save their penny by avoiding unnecessary expenditures and staying away from consumer goods which are not among their basic necessities.

Based on Foreclosure Radar Report, foreclosures reached a 45% magnitude in the state at the end of 2008. The report also indicated that an estimated 9,000 homes were put to auction last month. This creates an omen that more adversities are on the way to come.

True enough because currently, 85,096 foreclosed homes are listed in San Bernardino with $749,000 as the highest price and $32,000 as the lowest. Based on the Veros Real Estate Solutions Forecaster, another 15% drop in the value of real estate is expected within the next 2 months with Modesto as the heaviest hit. Local analysts said that the drop in the property market will have a corresponding chain reaction to the finance, insurance and real estate tenants.

With the threat of mass layoffs from work, the residents are left with no alternative but to dispose off their homes since they can no longer afford to pay the monthly amortization with corresponding accrued interest charges. Local Real Estate Companies are now in the verge of collapse such as the Rancho Cucamonga-based PFF Bancorp, which has an outstanding loan of millions of dollars borrowed to construct homes at the height of the housing boom several years ago.

The company has reported bad loans amounting to $34 million in the last quarter of 2008. Levitz Furniture, Inc. posted bankruptcy in November 2008 causing a layoff of 158 employees. On the financial industry, Wells Fargo terminated 58 workers last month and JP Morgan Chase’s Ontario branch laid off 91 employees in December 2008.

Vacated jobs now exist in Rialto, San Bernardino, Redlands, Moreno Valley and Riverside Counties. With this unemployment catastrophe, there are no winners in the forefront except the home buyers and investors who are interested to buy foreclosed homes in San Bernardino County.