California Housing Market Making a Comeback?

Posted by: Janielle Viggiano

Who would have thought that the nation’s most populated state would be affected by the recession and that the housing market would suffer? Housing prices in California real estate are heading back downward after a slight summer upswing. Prices are predicted to fall nearly 20% in 2009 for many markets, but there are signs that the environment is stabilizing across the state. According to NuWire, “As California battles back from the brink of economic failure, employment levels will be the most heavily watched single index. Without a growing job base the housing market will sustain further damage with increasing foreclosures, which have set records in just about every part of the state (2009). Hotels are starting to see more tourists and exports are on the rise. Although it may take awhile, signs are pointing in a positive direction for recovery. PR.com believes, “As California’s economy battles back from an economy with the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country more Californians have left the state than in decades --more than one million residents. But the Golden State’s economy will move into the new dawn of a new economy earlier than perhaps any other state (2009).”

While the housing market may be in bad shape, the commericial real estate in Southern California is even worse. According to Alain Sherter, “The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in September cited numbers projecting that commercial property prices will fall around 30 percent from their peaks across all sectors, with loans tied to construction and land development hit especially hard. For California lenders, that is pushing up loss rates on CRE, although for now those remain lower than during the 1991-92 recession (2009).”

Sources: http://industry.bnet.com/financial-services/10003889/in-sign-of-the-times-california-bank-faces-real-estate-crunch/

http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/california-real-estate-continues-decline-53797.aspx

http://www.pr.com/press-release/183228