TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

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1. Limited supply elevates home prices

   BY COURTENAY EDEHART Californian staff writer

   Thursday, May 03 2012 01:06 PM

   The median sale price of an existing single family home in the Bakersfield area rose to $145,000 in April, a 9.5 percent increase from March and up 14.3 percent from a year ago.

   That's according to The Preliminary Crabtree Report, a monthly gauge of the local housing market produced by Gary Crabtree of Affiliated Appraisers.

   Limited inventory likely is what's pushing up prices. The market had 567 active listings in April, excluding short sales with pending contingent offers.

   A short sale is an agreement between a lender and a seller to market a home for less than the balance of the mortgage. In such transactions, both the seller and the bank have to sign off on a purchase offer.

   April's total supply was 1,385 home listings. That's still down 36.4 percent compared with a year ago.

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2. Market squeezing homebuyers

   Home shopper Dian Schneider was four houses in on a whirlwind tour of local homes for sale Friday when her real estate agent issued her a warning.

3. Bakersfield apartments filling up fast

   Lori Blattenberg didn't expect to find herself looking for an apartment on her own again.
4. 

   Homeowners unhappy with new builder's models

   Homeowners in the northwest Bakersfield subdivision of North Pointe have resorted to erecting signs on their lawns to protest what they say is a change in neighborhood building standards that allegedly are lowering the value of their houses.

5. As rate of home ownership falls, some worry

   As investors in and outside Kern County continue to scoop up foreclosed houses at deep discounts, some worry that a decline in owner-occupied homes is changing the character of the region's neighborhoods.

6. Bakersfield home prices dip inexplicably

   Proving once more that the Bakersfield housing market is anything but predictable, home prices in the Bakersfield area fell last month even as supply contracted and demand surged.

7. Mortgage fraud risk high in Bakersfield

   The Bakersfield area has the fourth-highest mortgage fraud risk of any real estate market in the nation, according to an Agoura Hills company that assesses risk for lenders and investors.

9. Foreclosure mediation could save billions

   New research says it pays to help struggling homeowners.

10. Mortgage crisis, ethics central in panel event

    Hamburger meat may be the best analogy for understanding the mortgage crisis that has ravaged Kern County and the country.

11. Settlement could help Kern's beleaguered housing market

    A historic settlement between 49 states and the nation's largest mortgage lenders could mean about $374.5 million for Kern County homeowners affected by the region's foreclosure avalanche, according to the California Attorney General's Office.

12. Crabtree report: Housing market weakens slightly

    The median sale price for existing single-family homes in the Bakersfield area was $130,000 in January, down 3.7 percent from December but up 2.4 percent year-over-year.

13. New bill seeks to make some property fees deductible

    A state assemblyman has introduced legislation aimed at easing and simplifying property tax payments.

14. Upside-down borrowers face little-known tax deadline

    With about half of all mortgaged homes in the Bakersfield area stubbornly under water, a critical deadline is looming that hardly anyone seems to know about.