Wednesday, Jul 20 2011 3:37PM
The threat of foreclosure is high for many rural California homeowners, a new report from DataQuick reveals.
According to a recent report by DataQuick, communities in California with median home sale prices below $200,000 received significantly more default notices than wealthier areas.
Nearly nine default notices were filed per 1,000 lower-value homes in the state, the report shows. That figure is significantly higher than the 6.4 default notices per 1,000 homes experience statewide, and more than triple the rate of 2.4 filings per 1,000 homes in areas with median prices over $800,000.
Homeowners in Yuba, Sutter and Kings Counties - some of the state's more rural areas - were given the highest ratio of notices of default between April and June, according to DataQuick. The number of notices handed out to Yuba County homeowners increased 12.7 percent quarter-to-quarter, while notices rose 14.3 percent for property owners in Kings County.
Robert Hooker, executive director of the Inland Empire Economic Recovery, a San Bernardino-based nonprofit that buys, fixes and sells distressed properties, told the Los Angeles Times that while foreclosures have slowed in California recently, they are likely to hike soon.
"[Banks] still have a tremendous amount of shadow inventory, and they don't want to saturate the market," he told the paper.