REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Deep Impact: Foreclosure Surge in California

REALTOR® Magazine Online: The real estate professional's business support tool.

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Search REALTORMag...

OR FOCUS YOUR SEARCH

NEWS & COMMENTARY

Inside For Brokers

Connect

Social Networking

Follow, fan, or friend us online.

Your Magazine

Magnifying your voice and celebrating your accomplishments

CURRENT ISSUE

PAST ISSUES

Daily Real Estate News | April 17, 2007 | Deep Impact: Foreclosure Surge in California
A surge of foreclosures in California has some economists concerned that the fallout will be long lasting and potentially wound the whole economy.

The 11,033 foreclosures in the first three months of the year represent an 800 percent increase over the same period a year earlier.

"For this rise in foreclosures to be happening in the midst of a strong labor market is truly unique and scary," says analyst Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics.

He predicts foreclosures will top out at four or five times the current level — enough, he says, to induce a recession or at least bring the economy to the precipice.

Others are less pessimistic. "The housing sector is in trouble for a considerable period," says Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast. "But the rest of the economy will muddle through."

Source: Los Angeles Times, David Streitfeld (04/17/07)