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Foreclosure rate almost back to normal
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Good news.

The Great Housing Collapse is showing signs of being in its death throes.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported this week that the mortgage delinquency rate dropped to 6.39 percent in October, November, and December. That’s the lowest level since the start of the recession back in the first quarter of 2008. Even better news is the fact loans made since 2008 do not have a delinquency rate higher than what was the norm before the housing collapse and recession started. Roughly 75 percent of the loans that are in trouble were issued before 2007 when so-called “liar loans” were made.

The delinquency rate refers to loans that are at least one payment late but have yet to enter foreclosure.

The inventory of homes actually in foreclosure is dropping as well.

That is a positive sign especially with a slight cooling in the housing market. That means foreclossures won’t be an Albatross around the market’s neck in the event the slow down accelerates. That in turn will help stabilize prices.

Housing prices mark

big year-to-year gains

Even though Northern San Joaquin Valley home sales and prices were down slightly in January from December levels they are up from a year ago.

uTurlock 95380 median price in January was $199,736, up 47.4 percent from a year prior.

uTurlock 95382 median price in January was $241,500, up 23.8 percent from a year prior.

uManteca 95336 median price in January was $291,250, up 42.1 percent from a year prior.

uManteca 95337 median price in January was $330,000, up 31.5 percent from the year prior.

uRipon 95336 median price in January was $384,500, up 34.9 percent from the year prior.

The zombies are

now alive & well

Two years ago Manteca had plenty of “zombies.”

You could find them everywhere: Moffat Boulevard, West Yosemite A venue, Spreckels Avenue, South Main Street, and downtown.

The zombies were the living dead in real estate — commercial property that has sat vacant for the previous three to five years.

 The Wall Street Journal chronicled the trend of zombies coming back to life in November 2011 using an example of a Manteca dentist who had been paying $6,000 a month to rent 1,600 square feet in a commercial strip center in Spreckels Park. The property went into foreclosure. The dentist bought the 25,000-square-foot for a fifth of what the previous owner paid. That meant rent income made his net debt service is $2,000 less than his previous rent.

Since then several vacant spaces have been rented in the complex making the dentist look lkike an investment genius.