February 9, 2006
Bay Area default notices up

With the realty market slowing down, the number of homeowners, who are falling behind on their payments is on the rise. Evidence from Bay Area suggests that the number of default notices issued moved up 11 percent in the last quarter of 2005 to 2292 compared to 2074 notices issued in the same period of the previous year. Across the state of California, 14999 default notices were served, up 15.6% from 12978 in the previous year. If a number of instalments become outstanding, the property can go up for auction. In the scenario of an appreciating market, the homeowner could easily sell the property and exit the loan. But, with the growth slowing down, homeowners may find themselves in a sticky situation. The realty price growth peaked at 20.2% in early 2005. It was down to 16.2% in the last quarter of the previous year.