Poorest Localities in Sacramento County Hardest Hit by Foreclosures

November 19th, 2008

Repossessed Houses in Sacramento

The poorest localities in Sacramento County have been hardest hit by foreclosures. These impoverished neighbourhoods of Sacramento County are particularly affected during the last two years according to recent report of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. With each passing day the situation is slipping from bad to worse. Joel Riphagen of SHRA said, “Foreclosures are continuing to increase. The common denominator of the hardest-hit areas is they are low-income.”

The third quarter report of the agency states that the sale prices in some localities have fallen by more than half since the last one year. There has been a huge pile up of bank repossessed houses. These vacant houses have posed problems for the code enforcers of the county as they start off fires and attract crime as well as disease. Jimmie Yee is the county supervisor. He said, “What we don’t want to happen is when these homes become vacant, the outside becomes dilapidated and run-down.”

From January to September this year there have been 14,054 bank repossessions. Of these during the three months from July to September there have been 5,643 repossessions by the lenders. It amounts to 73.5% of the total in the capital region. In the third quarter there were 4,670 foreclosures. The number is excluding those houses that have been bought at court auctions. MDA DataQuick has released the figures.

The highest numbers of foreclosures are in the southern areas of Sacramento – Meadowview and Parkway. In northern parts of Sacramento the affected regions are North Highlands and Foothill Farms. In Natomas foreclosures are also becoming more in numbers. All these localities will benefit from $31.9 million that will come from federal relief funds within few months.

Roger Dickinson, the county supervisor said that his districts of North Sacramento and Natomas had the highest number of foreclosures counting to 1,358 during the third quarter. This would have a financial as well as a psychological impact. He added “When you have a large number of foreclosures in a relatively small or confined geographic area, the market starts to look at the area as struggling and less desirable. They can have an impact on the property values of people who are still there.”

Consumer advocates are blaming the lenders for this foreclosure crisis. Now that prices are falling many investors are rushing in to snap up bargain deals. Rented accommodation is now in great demand.