Wall Street
Banks and the Growing Housing Crisis in Sacramento.
California has
been one of the hardest hit states by the foreclosure crisis. Wall Street’s
reckless lending practices devastated California with high-cost loans
homeowners couldn’t afford, while inflating the housing bubble that reaped
record profits for the 1 percent. The consequences of Wall Street greed is that
millions of Californians have lost their homes and thousands more continue to
struggle with finding quality and affordable housing.
While vacant
bank-owned properties litter Sacramento neighborhoods, rental vacancies are in
decline, rental prices are up in many areas, and there are 2,734 homeless in
Sacramento County.12 In
parts of Sacramento rent rates increased by more than 3 percent from 2007 to
2012.13
The housing
market strains caused by Wall Street are felt most acutely among low-income
individuals and families. Affordable housing shortages for low-income
households (those 50 percent below the area median) went from 4.3 million units
in 2003 to 6.4 million units in 2009 nationally.14 The problem is especially clear in the Sacramento metro area where
54.2% of renters are currently living in unaffordable housing.15
Contrast this
very serious housing need with the fact that there
have been 1.2 million foreclosures in California since 2008 and it is expected
to exceed 2 million by the end of 2012.16 In Sacramento, more than 3,900 homes
were left vacant by banks in October 2011, alone.17 These vacant properties blight communities, burdening already
vulnerable communities struggling to recover from the continued housing crisis.California has been one of the hardest hit states by the
foreclosure crisis. Wall Street’s reckless lending practices devastated
California with high-cost loans homeowners couldn’t afford, while inflating the
housing bubble that reaped record profits for the 1 percent. The consequences
of Wall Street greed is that millions of Californians have lost their homes and
thousands more continue to struggle with finding quality and affordable
housing.
While vacant
bank-owned properties litter Sacramento neighborhoods, rental vacancies are in
decline, rental prices are up in many areas, and there are 2,734 homeless in
Sacramento County.12 In
parts of Sacramento rent rates increased by more than 3 percent from 2007 to
2012.13
The housing
market strains caused by Wall Street are felt most acutely among low-income
individuals and families. Affordable housing shortages for low-income
households (those 50 percent below the area median) went from 4.3 million units
in 2003 to 6.4 million units in 2009 nationally.14 The problem is especially clear in the Sacramento metro area where
54.2% of renters are currently living in unaffordable housing.15
Contrast this very serious housing
need with the fact that there have been 1.2 million
foreclosures in California since 2008 and it is expected to exceed 2 million by
the end of 2012.16 In
Sacramento, more than 3,900 homes were left vacant by banks in
October 2011, alone.17 These
vacant properties blight communities, burdening already vulnerable communities
struggling to recover from the continued housing crisis.
Read the full report by AACE.
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