Bank Owned Homes Played Significant Roles in Los Angeles in 2010

Recent projections showed that the number of foreclosed bank owned homes were lower in 2010 than the previous year. Housing prices are also considered more settled in 2010 than in 2009. All in all, residents of Los Angeles, California, have a lot to be thankful for in terms of the housing industry. However, the unemployment rate remains high and is dampening an otherwise well-balanced year.

As the number of foreclosed Los Angeles apartments and houses declined in 2010, unemployment rate continued to maintain its 14% level which effectively hindered any form of sustained recovery in the housing industry. Budget cuts also hurt the city as deficits forced the local government to make adjustments, with school districts and public employment feeling the worst of the budget deficit impact.

Sales of new houses and existing residences, including bank owned homes, started strongly in 2010 in most areas of the city. However, the end of the tax credit program precipitated the decline in housing sales in June which continued until November. The California State University in Northridge’s San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center reported that from January to November last year, 14,888 residential properties were sold at the San Fernando Valley.

The number is comparatively lower than the 14,990 figure recorded for the same 11-month period in 2009. The make-up of the city’s housing market, with sales showing strong figures in the first half and dwindling as the tax credit ended, was the same in the national level. The recovery that seemed within reach in the first five or six months of the year ended along with the tax credit initiative.

However, analysts reported that the housing market still performed a bit better than 2009, with prices stabilizing in 2010 and the number of foreclosed Los Angeles apartments and homes recording a lower number than 2009 levels. Foreclosures for January-November 2010 declined by 17% compared with the same 2009 period.

A total of 5,110 foreclosed houses and bank owned homes were recorded from January to November of 2010 compared with 6,128 in 2009. Despite the decline in foreclosure activities, analysts have asserted that the housing industry will not fully recover until the unemployment rate is lowered and more jobs are created in the city.