California Connected Newsroom

The Orange County Register reports that foreclosures are on the rise in Orange County. “Banks sent owners 665 notices of default in November, a 125 percent increase from a year ago and an 11 percent rise from October, DataQuick reported Wednesday,” the Register reports. “It’s the highest monthly total in more than seven years.” The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a national survey of homeowners falling at least 30 days behind on their mortgage payments jumped 0.23 percent since last year.

• Real Estate Blues: The real estate boom of recent years caused California home prices to soar to dizzying heights. Now that market has cooled, housing prices are leveling off or even dropping after years of growth.
• Koreatown Boom: A special blog series on development and demographic trends in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.
• Priced Out: The High Cost of Housing: In the coastal community of Santa Barbara, the median home cost - more than $1.2 million - has forced local police, fire fighters and nurses further and further inland for affordable middle class housing. What happens when first-responders live outside the community they are protecting?
• Baja Boom: In Mexican communities like Rosarito Beach, American baby boomers are fueling a massive real estate boom. The American-style developments draw in big money and big spenders, but they also come with a big burden. Can Baja communities keep up with the growing demands these developments place on their infrastructure and municipal services?