Developer foreclosures - Bakersfield Californian:
$74 million loan to Irvine-based developer SunCal Cos. for a major housing project in Shafter was foreclosed on Wednesday morning at a public auction on City Hall steps.
SunCal’s outstanding debt to national homebuilder Lennar Corp. had reached almost $86 million with interest and fees by auction time. Opening bids for the 515-acre site started at $10 million. No one made an offer, so the property went back to Lennar.
A pair of Wasco properties borrowed against by Eagle Meadows of Wasco companies operated by Stockton-based developer Kent Hoggan went back to lender Investment Grade Loans Inc. after no one answered the opening bid call at $100,000 apiece.
About 77 acres at Gromer and Magnolia avenues and 75 acres near Palm and Filburn avenues carried about $4.2 million in debt. Both are currently agricultural sites.
Sacramento developers finding out Bakersfield's streets are not paved with gold, from the Bakersfield Californian:
Foreclosures reach a new record, again, Bakersfield Californian:They live in one of eight homes completed before Sacramento developer Reynen & Bardis Communities Inc. halted construction here late last year, leaving idle partially constructed houses on many of the cul-de-sac’s dirt lots.
Hidden Grove’s future and that of at least seven other local Reynen & Bardis projects in Bakersfield, Wasco and Shafter are up in the air as the homebuilder’s finances teeter.
Still, Reynen & Bardis is among a dozen or so developers who have defaulted on Kern projects carrying loans of $2 million or more, according to an ongoing Californian survey.
It’s the first time metropolitan Bakersfield has seen such a spike in developer defaults and foreclosures, real estate professionals say, and it’s unclear what the final impact will be.
Foreclosures reached another new high in Kern last month, according to the latest report from the Kern County Recorder’s office.
The monthly tally shows 586 properties foreclosed in February, up from 512
the previous month and 107 in February 2007.
Default notices, meanwhile, arrived at a steady pace despite the short month, with 1,177 recorded. That’s just two more than January’s count, but more than double the 502 sent out a year ago.
The following was posted on the Counties website. Kern Assesors Website:
Kern Residence Values DeclineThe Assessor is in the process of reviewing more than 40,000 residential properties in Kern County as a reduction may be necessary for these properties due to the downturn in the housing market. These reviews are for purchases that occurred between July, 2004 and December, 2007. The Assessor will be determining the market value of these properties for January 1st, 2008. If the market value for January 1st, 2008 is less than your current assessed value, an adjustment will be made. This adjusted value will be reflected on the 2008-2009 tax bills. All properties that have a lower value will receive notification via US mail by July 15th, 2008. It is not necessary at this time to contact the Assessor’s Office, the review will be automatic. If, by the 1st of August, you have not received a determination of value from the Assessor’s Office, and you feel your value is too high, please contact the Assessor’s Office at (661) 868-3485.
