In a tidy round-up of housing related news, the Los Angeles Times reports on two separate studies, one of which predicts that SoCal rents are expected to fall 3.5% in Los Angeles County in 2010. What does this mean for you, average Joe renter? Well, rents actually fell more last year: The average monthly rent fell to $1,488 in 2009, a 5.8% drop from 2008. Still, at least one West Hollywood landlord gripes it's harder to fill up units aka it's a "more competitive marketplace now..." Looking just at LA County in terms of new apartments that are coming: "More than 5,700 apartment units were completed in the county in 2009, about 42% of the new supply for the region last year. This year, 4,805 units are scheduled to be built, representing more than half of new construction in Southern California." And in foreclosure-related news, this blog post is now making its way around the blogs: The guy who runs Irvine Housing Blog attended the California Building Industry Association conference two weeks ago. If a certain Bank of America executive is to be believed, a foreclosure blood bath is coming. "The west coast manager of real estate owned, Senior Vice President Ken Gaitan, stated that Bank of America, which currently forecloses on 7,500 homes a month nationally, will increase that number to 45,000 homes per month by December of 2010.
After his surprising statement, two questioners from the audience asked questions to verify the numbers.
Bank of America is projecting a 600% increase in its already large number of monthly foreclosures." In related news, Bank of America is being sued by a group of California homeowners for "purposefully withholding government money intended to prevent homeowners from entering foreclosure."
· Southern California apartment rents are expected to keep falling [LAT]
· Bank of America to Increase Foreclosure Rate by 600% in 2010 [Irvine Housing Blog]
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