Word: inlanders
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...Postcard: Inland Empire," with its tale of qualified, would-be homeowners getting outbid at every turn by developers, carries a message that should be heeded by Washington [Jan. 18]. Bad economic choices and unexpected economic reversals are inevitable for any nation. Though painful for those involved, market forces will eventually clean up these disasters and restore stability--if allowed to do so. Attempts to create a utopian society and protect citizens from this pain will only defer the inevitable and possibly make the eventual correction catastrophic...
Furthermore, how far a storm surge penetrates inland depends on the local topography, both offshore and on - damage to property on a seaside cliff is a lot different from that on a beach. And even if property lies at a generally low elevation, it makes a difference whether the region is hilly or flat, or close to a bay or estuary...
That all ended with the bursting of the property bubble, as home prices fell by nearly half. Today new homes sit vacant with dead lawns and boarded-up windows. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, calls the Inland Empire a "ground zero" for the nationwide housing bust. To first-time home buyers, though, its blighted cul-de-sacs appear as promising as the orange groves did to Dust Bowl refugees. Armed with an $8,000 tax credit and low mortgage rates, they have flocked to cities like Riverside, where auctioneers sell off foreclosed properties...
...despite the high volume of repossessed properties - the Inland region has the sixth highest concentration of foreclosures in the nation, according to the listing service RealtyTrac - house hunting here is an exercise in frustration. Banks have been slow to put properties on the market, sparking bidding wars among buyers. Overwhelmingly, the winners of these clashes are investors, who have been snapping up homes with high all-cash offers. "For the home seller, cash is king," says Yun. "First-time buyers are at a disadvantage...
...Moreno Valley, once one of the fastest-growing cities in the Inland Empire, the competition for foreclosed homes is intense. In December, only 532 houses were listed for sale, down from approximately 3,500 a year ago. "Pretty much anything under $150,000 is going to be bought with cash," says Oscar Rodriguez, a Century 21 real estate agent. He calls his clients, primarily first-time buyers, "goldfish going against sharks." (See pictures of Los Angeles...