Bargain Hunting in Beverly Hills: Mansion Foreclosures Skyrocketing

Foreclosures Hit the Rich: Real Estate Keeps Sliding in SoCal

If you needed further proof that the U.S. economy is going nowhere, here it is: even the once untouchable American rich are losing million-dollar houses in larger numbers. From the Los Angeles Times:

The number of homes in the $1-million-and-up slice of the market that have become bank owned has tripled in the second quarter compared with the same period three years earlier in Los Angeles County, which has the majority of Southern California’s high-priced REO houses. And the trend has shown little sign of slowing, according to data from ForeclosureRadar.

By comparison, the number of homes reverting to banks in all price ranges combined peaked in the third quarter of 2008.

Hmmm, I’ve got about $85 stashed away. Might just be time for me to swoop in and buy in Bel Aire.

The larger point I see here – the point that is applicable to the average person looking to buy a house – is whether this is really the best time to buy. Or is this slide going to continue for years and years?

More from the LA Times:

Whether luxury REOs represent bargains that won’t be available again for years remains to be seen.

Bryan Ochse of Media West Realty in Burbank, which works with 11 lending institutions and specializes in REO sales, isn’t betting on it.

“We believe the high end is ready to fall apart,” he said.

Goldman is more optimistic about the market’s recovery.

There has been a lot of talk recently “about a double-dip” in the housing market, Goldman said. “I’ve been thinking of the housing market as a light airplane landing and it kind of bounces. Until things stabilize, we’re going to see some up and down here.”

There are two names dropped in the article too – Nicholas Cage and Jose Canseco. I wonder if they’ve landed in shabby condos or perhaps a loud one-bedroom in an apartment complex off the highway?

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