Analyst sees ‘ghost town’ in Inland Empire

Peter Viles
LA Times
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

A financial analyst fresh from a tour of construction sites in the Inland Empire is warning Wall Street of a “ghost town” where finished homes sit vacant and additional homes are still under construction. 

“At several properties, there were a significant number of fully built homes sitting vacant along with a large number of additional homes still under construction,” Sandler O’Neill & Partners analyst Aaron Deer wrote today after touring developments in Corona and Ontario. “At one master plan community, the entire development appeared to be vacant — with the exception of crews working on new construction, it was a ghost town.”

Median home prices in both communities have dropped sharply over the last year, declining 33.6% in Corona and 30.3% in Ontario, according to DataQuick Information Systems. In Corona, the median sales price fell nearly $200,000 from May 2007 to May 2008, dropping from $565,000 to $375,000.

(Article continues below)

More from Deer’s note: “The homes all appeared to be empty, and there were no prospective buyers anywhere to be found. Surprisingly, the sales office was open … but the woman working there had questionable English fluency. When asked how many homes had been sold in the past month she simply responded, ‘Uh huh. Thank you. Yes!’ and handed us some additional literature on the property.”

Full article here.

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6 Responses to “Analyst sees ‘ghost town’ in Inland Empire”

1. Edwards Says:
   July 2nd, 2008 at 6:39 pm

   The Bible has the answer – as it does on all things. In Lev. We read that there should be a cancellation of all debt. There is a Sabbath Year (one in seven) and a Jubilee Year (one in 50 years). On this year, all property is returned to the original owners or heirs.

   Naturally, the people in power won’t do this, but this is the only fair and just way.

2. yellowhak1 Says:
   July 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm

   so just who are you referring too being im native american or do we even count?

3. Hologram5 Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 6:32 am

   I don’t understand why the banks and administration would intentionally destroy the American dollar. Quit printing more useless paper and fix what we have now.

4. James Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 am

   It’s only going to get worse. The worst part about it is if the banks go under You will loose You’re house even if You never missed a payment. The goons in wall-street will call in all credit meaning if You don’t have the money You loose it. I sure hope everything doesn’t go to crap but I have lost my faith in man long ago. I need to put my trust in the Lord because man is a degenerate piece of crap. I have gotten used to the idea of living in a tent and as a matter of fact life would be so much simpler. I’ll see You guys in the wilderness while the people in the cities fight over bread crumbs.

5. John F Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 11:37 am

   There’s a new subdivison full of half million dollar houses not far from here in Northern Nevada. The developer has taken to letting overflow from the New Car dealerships park in the driveways so as to give the impression that people are living there.

   Everywhere empty new commercial and residential real estate in an over sold market.

   Two signs of trouble, in housing and autos.

6. Expel the Jesuits Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm

   Fear, panic, agitation: enough manipulation, already. This “ghost town” business is total nonsense – if only it were true. The fact is we are teaming with millions upon millions of Roman Catholic immigrants from Mexico & South America … no shortage of bodies around here. The development will get sold at market prices, no need to worry.

   Expel the Jesuits, people, they are the ones behind all this mess we are in.