As both jobs and home sales remained scarce, 34% of all California home resale activity in the fourth quarter of 2011 was attributed to real estate owned (REO) inventory — approximately the same as in the prior quarter and down from an even higher 38% one year earlier. [For current REO data and analysis, see [...]

Readers weigh in on topics affecting the California real estate industry.

30% of California homeowners owed more on their mortgages in the third quarter of 2011 than their homes were worth, a condition referred to as negative equity. This consists of 2,030,292 homes statewide. [Data courtesy of Corelogic, a data analytics company.] While still high, these numbers represent a downward trend from one year ago, when [...]

This article examines the financial viability of homeownership in the wake of the housing crash, and how the housing crash impacted ideas about mortgage spending and commuting.

Speculations about American migratory patterns since the collapse of the housing market have been confirmed: people are not moving. According to the Carsey Institute’s analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey (ACS), which released the national data on American mobility spanning 2008-2010, states that were growing rapidly are now at a standstill [...]

A cautiously optimistic light was thrown on the economic recovery of the Riverside-San Bernardino area at a convocation of local economists, real estate professionals, financial planners, civil engineers, title company representatives and business students titled the Annual Inland Empire Economic Forecast Conference held in Riverside California on November 3, 2011, at the Riverside Convention Center. [...]

This article examines the recent revisions made to the Administration’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and analyzes its actual effect on the real estate market.

Part II of this article series examines the pedigree of a true “short sale specialist” and highlights the many tedious aspects of qualifying a negative-equity homeowner for a short payoff with his mortgage lender.

A recent batch of first-time homeowners are now feeling the weight of California’s housing crisis. Meet the young couples and families who were leveraged into their first home during the Millennium Boom price peak. For them, moving up to a bigger home is, for the foreseeable further, a losing battle. These homeowners are now underwater [...]

This article evaluates two reports which consider the impact mortgage loan modifications have on a negative equity homeowner’s ability to relocate and find employment.