Friday, March 23, 2007

Housing Market Slumps In Kern County


So now Gary Crabtree is changing his tune and becoming as bearish on local housing as me.


Where was this guy a few years ago, actually the Summer of 2005. During the Summer of 2005, he appeared on the Channel 17 real estate love fest and claimed the market was ok.


That was the peak of the market, prices are down since then, inventory has skyrockted since then and foreclosures are through the roof! Now he thinks prices will come down, no Shit Sherlock!


From KERO TV23:


BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The housing market in Bakersfield has shifted in favor of the buyer and experts expect the trend to continue for the next two to three years.


Bakersfield is in it's first housing slump since 1998.

Gary Crabtree, owner of Affiliated Apraisers, said Bakersfield has seen high levels of sales for the past four years, and now the market is correcting itself.

He is confident prices on houses will go down, but he's not sure how far they will fall.


One reason for the surplus of homes on the market is an increase in oreclosures, Crabtree said. Crabtree said that comes from buyers using what are called "sub-prime" loans.

Sub-prime loans are interest only loans that count on low interest rates to keep payments down. Now, with rising interest rates, buyers with "sub-prime" loans are sometimes being forced to foreclose because they can't come up with their higher mortgage payments.

Those foreclosures add to an already beefed up surplus of houses on the market.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who is he (Crabtree)? Is he the only appraiser that Bakersfield has? He doesn't ever say anything substantial yet seems to be some kind of media darling. Is there a way to look up his appraisals of properties to see how appropriately he is valuing them these days?

Anonymous said...

Picture looks like a quiet neighborhood 23 News had taken? Look at all those vacant houses. I see one lonely car sitting in the driveway. I bet these houses were built in late 06.
Flippers Flops.

Anonymous said...

I love that picture. "Oh but aint that america for you and me
Aint that america were someting to see baby
Aint that america, home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me" (John Mellencamp)
They probably have an HOA that tells them where to park their cars...