A Victorville, CA bank owned new home subdivision gets the wrecking ball

It’s confounding to me that this could happen, but apparently, the bank who foreclosed on the bankrupt developer did a cost vs. benefit analysis, and concluded that it would save them money if they were to destroy the existing 16 homes, 4 of which were nearly finished. Real estate values in San Bernardino county have plummeted 60% since their 2006 peak, leaving many homeowners (and banks who have foreclosed on properties) upside down on their loans. The bank decided to demo these 16 homes because the cost of finishing them exceeded what they could be sold for in today’s market.

Shocking, but true. Even though we live in the “old west,” let’s hope we don’t see the bulldozers circling in Tucson anytime soon. Demolishing perfectly good housing structures seems like an outright shame. Unfortunately- that’s the painful point this crushing real estate market has brought some of us to. Hopefully this is a sign that we have hit the bottom of the market, or are very close to doing so. Otherwise, a whole new industry (demolishing of perfectly good homes) may spring up from the ashes of the real estate debacle. Even the owner of the company hired to do the demo work on this subdivision said, “I was a little surprised they couldn’t come up with an alternative to demolition.” When a demo guy wants to halt the bulldozers, you know we’re in hot water!