August 2nd, 2007
California mortgage lenders mailed California homeowners the highest number of mortgage default notices in over a decade during the second quarter, the result of flat or falling prices, anemic sales and a market struggling with the excesses of the 2004-05 home buying frenzy, according to a real estate information service.
California mortgage lenders filed almost 54,000 notices of default during the April through June period. That was up 15 percent from 46,760 in the previous quarter and up 158 percent from 20,909 in the second quarter of 2006.
On first mortgages statewide, homeowners were a average of five months behind on their payments when the lender started the default process. The borrowers owed a average of $11,000 on a average $342,000 mortgage.
Real estate mortgages were least likely to go into default in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. The likelihood was highest in San Joaquin, Merced and Riverside counties.
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August 2nd, 2007
Office rents in downtown Sacramento were the 19th-highest in the nation, according to a report by Colliers International, commercial real estate brokers.
Office prices here have remained stable. Sacramento’s downtown office market averaged $30.72 per square foot rent in the second quarter of 2007, very close to the $30.60 per square foot businesses were paying in the second quarter of 2006.
Colliers found the highest rental prices were in midtown Manhattan, at $92.31 per square foot, while the lowest were in Bakersfield at $17.40 per square foot.
The downtown average was $46.81 per square foot for major US cities.
Suburban Sacramento rents stayed steady at $26.52 per square foot, up from $26 per square foot the same time last year. The Greater Sacramento suburban market was just below the national average of $27.45.
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August 2nd, 2007
Genworth Financial is buying local Sacramento reverse mortgage company Liberty Reverse Mortgage Inc. for $50 million in cash.
Liberty Reverse Mortgage, a 2003 startup in Rancho Cordova, is now one of the largest originators of reverse mortgages in the United States. It also has a division that buys reverse mortgages from other mortgage companies.
A reverse mortgage allows homeowners age 62 and over to borrow against their home equity. The loan is insured to guarantee payment, and it doesn’t end until the homeowner sells the house, moves or dies.
The company was started by Scott Hanson and Pat McClain, who also own Hanson McClain Retirement Planning. They are the majority owners of Liberty, which they spun off as a separate company.
Genworth Financial will merge Liberty into its subsidiary Senior Financial.
Genworth Financial is a financial security company that offers retirement, mortgage insurance and other products to its 15 million customers.
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August 2nd, 2007
Stockmans Bank saw profits decline in the first half of the year, falling 21 percent from earnings of $5.8 million at June 30, 2006 to $4.6 million at the same time this year.
Stockmans recently launched a new branch in North Natomas, which came with immediate expenses and hasn’t yet built up assets and deposits to be profitable. Like most Sacramento community banks, it is operating in an financial environment where there is fierce competition for both deposits and loans.Stockmans has offices in Elk Grove, Folsom, Rocklin, Galt and North Natomas.
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July 10th, 2007
One of our favorite restaurants is Il Fornaio. Every month features a different region of Italy. The island of Sicily is featured this month. The Pasta chi Purpetti was wonderful. It had housemade tagliatelle pasta, tiny veal meatballs, peas, pecorino, parmesan and aged ricotta; served with a red wine-pancetta sauce. We also enjoyed the Scaloppine Conca d’Oro, sautéed veal topped with mozzarella, eggplant and tomato sauce; served with seasonal braised greens and roasted fingerling potatoes.
We also had a bottle of Nero d’Avola, Scurati Ceuso. This supple and delicious red is produced from native Nero d’Avola grapes cultivated in the mountains of Sicily. It is a complex and medium-bodied wine with intense aromas and flavors of fresh plum, blackberries, black cherries and spice.
We went to the Il Fornaio in the Roseville Galleria, but there is also one in the Wells Fargo Building on Capitol Mall in Downtown Sacramento.
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