THE HOUSING MARKET APPEARS TO BE ADJUSTING
Why Is This Important?
The current mortgage crisis has resulted in the added burden of housing foreclosures. Foreclosures occur when homeowners cannot meet their mortgage payments.Thus, an increase in foreclosures is an indication of financial stress among households due to any variety of factors, including job loss, income decline, and adjustments of variable rate mortgages. Positive trends in home prices and sales indicate the desirability of a region, as well as its underlying economic security and expected continuing viability.
How Are We Doing?
California and Solano County foreclosures have followed a nearly identical pattern of rises and falls.The year 2009 marked the first year since the exponential growth of residential foreclosures in 2006 that Solano County and California foreclosures dropped. Foreclosures fell in Solano County by 22 percent to 4,100 foreclosures and in California by 20 percent to 189,800 foreclosures from 2008 to 2009. Solano County foreclosures in the first half of 2010 are slightly lower than the first half figures of 2009 (1,950 vs. 2,000) possibly predicting an overall drop from 2009 levels at the end of the year.While Solano County home sales fell drastically in 2006 and 2007, 2009 represented the second consecutive year that home sales improved reaching 8,100 sales, a 67 percent increase from 2007 levels. After declining since 2006, the average sale price of Solano homes stabilized in 2010 but given the backlog of foreclosures, the future trends are uncertain.