Will another one bite the dust?
The Times story today about new homes being razed in Victorville has hard core housing crash gawkers wondering if more unsold tracts will be demolished. In the video that brought the Victorville demolition to the blogosphere, the blogger says a crew member told him of an upcoming demolition in Temecula.
The crew was mum when I got there, though. Blogger Jim The Realtor sent an agent/reporter out to see if another Inland Empire development taken over by the same bank might be the one they were talking about, but the results were inconclusive. He says 18 of 32 new homes were sold in the development, 14 remain vacant. Five of the 18 occupied houses are in some stage of foreclosure, he reports.
At the Calculated Risk blog, where Bill was among the first to put up the demolition video, commenters are calling the Victorville phenomenon "home-i-cide."
When I was in Victorville, I could see what builders there are up against. There were billboards advertising four-bedroom houses with three-car garages for rent at $995 a month. Who knows if they have any takers, and how much they could negotiate below that monthly amount.
It looks like a race to the bottom between rentals and houses for sale.
If anyone gets word of another demolition, let us know.
--Peter Y. Hong
An excavator sits near a soon to be completely torn down model home in Victorville on Friday, May 1, 2009. (Christina House / For the Times)
I know I'm a rare bleeding heart on this blog, but is there really no joint solution between this and the RV parking problem in Venice or the homeless "problem" in santa monica?
Posted by: NewtoLA | May 05, 2009 at 02:15 PM
Well there it is, this is what the citizens of the community got in return from the bank that took our tax money in a form of a bailout.
Posted by: Nelcisco | May 05, 2009 at 03:59 PM
Good, tear down this garbage. Return the land to desert habitat. Sprawl has hit the wall.
Posted by: Cometcollector | May 05, 2009 at 09:18 PM
The City of Lancaster are eco-terrorists for this wanton waste of resources... disgusting!
Posted by: dudeman1961 | May 06, 2009 at 11:19 AM
What a waste!
Posted by: Cynt dawg | May 06, 2009 at 10:34 PM
this is what the citizens of the community got in return from the bank that took our tax money in a form of a bailout.
Posted by: alimentatie copii | May 07, 2009 at 02:45 PM