Merced, California: 19.8% unemployment 62% drop in home values

[amborin]

Recession takes uneven toll in Lincoln, Neb., and Merced, Calif

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In Merced, a stroll down Main Street brings little visible evidence of the economic misery that grips the San Joaquin Valley city.

Drive a few miles to the outskirts, though, and the pain comes into focus.

At the big Bellevue Ranch subdivision, entire cul-de sacs look like eerie ghost towns, empty of people.

Rows of homes stand unfinished, their bare wood frames darkened by rain and weather.

An unopened roll of roofing paper rests atop one house, and the clutter of construction debris lies soaked from winter rains, untouched since buyers and workers walked away when the housing bubble burst.

"It was like a bomb went off," says Tom Calton, a retired insurance executive who devotes his time to heling the newly poor through an outreach program at his church, Liberty Fellowship.

"The workers walked away. It happened so quick it was scary. It put people in shock. ... It didn't slow down. It just collapsed."

Today, the Merced metropolitan area (population 246,117) has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, 19.8%.

Merced also has one of the highest foreclosure rates. According to widely published statistics from First American CoreLogic, one in five homes in Merced County was 90 days delinquent in payments as of November 2009.

The impact on property values has been devastating. Home values have dropped 62% since 2006, city spokesman Mike Conway says.

Median home prices dropped from a peak of $337,300 in 2006 to $94,300 at the end of 2009, according to zillow.com, which tracks real estate values.

Cities here in California's fruit and vegetable basket are always dependent on the vagaries of agriculture and see unemployment soar in winter when there's little work in the fields. In this recession, however, the impact has been compounded by the collapse of construction after a frenzied speculative bubble.

In 2005, the city issued 1,444 residential building permits, Conway notes. In 2009, the number was seven.

The collapse of construction has been devastating for Jerry Manning, 48, who made his living designing and selling home kitchens — countertops, cabinets and appliances.

He worked for several construction supply companies and had his own company but saw demand vanish.

"The way the economy went, I just couldn't get any work," says Manning, who has a wife and two teenage sons. "No houses are getting built, and people aren't doing a lot of remodeling."

Manning and his wife gave up the 2005 car they were making payments on, canceled cable TV and accepted the gift of a 16-year-old car.

They live in a rented home and have exhausted their savings, he says. His wife gets a few hours of work each week preparing food for the school system, and he works as a volunteer with Calton's church group, Nineveh Outreach, distributing food.

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-02-17-two-cities-recession_N.htm?csp=YahooModule_News

[Warpy]

1. Unbelievable.

As bad as it is here in NM, it's not nearly as bad as it is in California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, or Ohio. This is a full blown Depression in those areas.

I hope people are taking care of each other there. It seems no one else will, not yet.

[damntexdem]

2. No mercy in Merced.

California has got to get out from under this.

[asdjrocky]

3. Merced is just one of many cities in Ca just like this.

Try Stockton, we were number on in foreclosures for nearly two years.

Take a look at Sacramento, the capital city, with it's thousands of homeless being shuffelded about the city.

I love it when people tell me the economy is on an upturn, they need to come here.

[amborin]

5. yes, also, vast areas of the "inland empire" in southern california

a wasteland

[amborin]

4. and Merced has a U of CA campus to aid its economy!

[KamaAina]

8. Hopefully that will help change this depressing statistic

Adults with high school education: Lincoln, Neb. 93%, Merced 66%.
Adults with bachelor's degrees: Lincoln 35%, Merced 13%.

Of course Lincoln is a long-established college town, but still... :scared:

[XemaSab]

6. I worked on some of the half-finished developments

It's too bad the bubble didn't burst before all that farmland was destroyed. :(

[Winterblues]

7. This one little town I have never heard of has half as many people as the state of Alaska.

:shrug:

[musiclawyer]

9. The Housing prices were inflated in the first place because of UC

Merced's opening. Hopefully when there is a bit of economic turn-around more people will be able to afford those homes that were completed. It's not a bad area. It's the gateway to Yosemite; a mere 90 + minutes to Monterey/Carmel; doesn't have as bad air pollution as does the southern part of the valley; and it has much less crime that to the north in Modesto/Stockton. Crossing fingers for better days ahead there.

[amborin]

10. except: housing prices plummeted also in Contra Costa county and many other, w/ no UC campus

also, the air there is unbreathable, last i was there, same in fresno

[4_TN_TITANS]

11. Now I understand the 'underwater walkaways'.

Here in mid-TN the house that we bought in 2007 has only lost 10%, 15% at most. If it had lost 62%, I would have stuck it with Wells Fargo in a heartbeat.