California RE starts to sell again…

While it’s still too early to tell, there is a glimmer of hope that the end of the Real Estate bust is getting closer…

LOS BANOS, Calif. — In this California city, one of the hardest hit in the national housing crash, there’s good news: Homes are starting to sell again.

Investors and first-time home buyers are snapping up foreclosed houses here, with the number of local sales up almost fivefold from this time last year. While the volume of existing-home sales across the U.S. fell 10.7% in August from the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors, there are signs that the most damaged of markets are starting to heal themselves. Across hard-hit California, sales volumes rose 65% in September compared with a year ago, said MDA DataQuick, a San Diego-based real-estate information service.

California’s Crashing Market

See some of the hardest-hit communities, plus more on Merced and Los Banos.

The bad news is that the latest round of sales is unleashing another round of pain in cities such as Los Banos, a commuter community in California’s Central Valley. With home prices already down 66% from their peak here, most homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. Successive deals bring new low prices, leaving remaining owners with little incentive to keep current on outsized mortgages.

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Sources:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122462963345656289.html

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