San Francisco foreclosures, showed a mixed response by the year end

San Francisco foreclosures rates plunged roughly by 50 percent compared to the rates in September 2009. In November 2009 the total number of houses that were sold amounted to 30-35 percent of the entire houses sale and in December experienced an increase in the sale of San Francisco foreclosures by around 28 percent. 
The San Francisco bay area, which is the most popular area for buying houses, experienced a fall by 13 to 15 percent. Other San Francisco counties like the San Mateo, Contra Costa and Alameda saw foreclosures of about 9000 properties and among them Contra Costa recorded the maximum number of foreclosures and least were filled by San Mateo.
Further shifting our focus from the number of houses sold to the price index that dominated in the last quarter of 2009. It is evident that the prices have started to rise since October 2009. There was a rise in the prices of San Francisco foreclosures by 0.8 percent in November compared to October 2009 and in December 2009 the prices were up by another 1.2 percent. This has brought about price stability in the pricier areas of San Francisco. Also the sale of the foreclosed houses did not plummet below $350,000 mark. Above the $500,000 mark there were at least 30-35 percent of houses that were finally sold.
The existing stock which is available in the market for San Francisco foreclosures is less by 30 to 35 percent in comparison to the stock in January this year and compared to 2008 stock at the same time it is less by at least 28 percent. This is a good sign. In San Francisco majority of the stock lies with the banks and they have made efforts to control this deteriorating situation. Banks have extended help to their customers in the form of loan modifications and short sales. 
The unemployment scenario in San Francisco does not demonstrate optimistic signs as the unemployment rate still stand high at about 12 percent. This in turn, force people to default on their loans and will put their properties in for foreclosures. The present inventory of San Francisco foreclosures seem to be wedged at 2.7 months, which is a less than the previous months but certainly a big figure to deal with.  Hence, it is to be seen in the future how the prices rise and the number of San Francisco foreclosures plunge or augment.