Why wouldn’t you want to move to California? It has beautiful weather all year long, Disneyland, and Hollywood to name a few of the draws. But did you know that California also has some of the poorest cities in the country?
El Centro, California is one of those poorest cities. With a median income of just over $43,000 per family, the unemployment rate is even more shocking – a staggering 28.6%. The high unemployment rate is what many experts attribute the depreciation in home values in the city to. Those home values have moved down by more than 50% between 2006 and 2011.
Those that have put their houses on the market aren’t going to get a high return on those investments. For example, a house that was bought in El Centro before the housing bubble burst for almost $400,000 would have dropped down to just $200,000.
Many families have had to move out of their homes due to foreclosure based on job loss while others simply have relocated in hopes of finding employment elsewhere. Anyone who still has a house might want to hang on to it for a little while – experts project that housing prices may dip even lower in the first quarter of 2012, dropping by another 12%.
Investors may move in and buy up some of the houses in the El Centro area. Buying a house on the cheap is a great way to make some money back when the housing values start to appreciate. However, that may take up to five or even ten years!
Lance Grooms
