Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Southern California home sales rose 51 percent in December as a surge in foreclosures pushed prices of single-family houses and condominiums down from a year earlier, MDA DataQuick said. A total of 19,926 new and existing houses and condos sold last month in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, up from 13,240 a year earlier, the San Diego-based research company said today in a statement. The median home price in the region fell 35 percent to $278,000. âThe markets that were part of the frenzy, thatâs whatâs in trouble now,â MDA DataQuick analyst John Karevoll said in an interview. Foreclosures, which often sell at steep discounts, lured buyers as President-Elect Barack Obama worked on plans to revive the housing market using the second half of the $700 billion Troubled-Asset Relief Program. Lenders including Bank of America Corp., and financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. benefited from the governmentâs initial distribution of bailout money as their mortgage-related assets plunged in value. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a9tuBSHCY5JM Maybe just Southern California "syndrom", or ?
1) "Syndrome" 2) It's an omen of what's to happen in other states. 3) Are you still considering US real estate as an investment with some of your 2008 bonus?
PennyMac buys mortgages valued at $558 million BlackRock, Highfields-backed firm to share gains and losses with FDIC http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...E6ED8-D0B1-40EA-9E82-D78B97689C54}&dist=msr_1 Maybe worth a "distressed fund"...?