The Bay Area – one of the richest in wealth and foreclosures

It is an apparent contradiction that the Bay Area of California should be the richest in numbers pertaining to wealth and foreclosures. To understand this a little big of digging is required.

The Bay Area comprises of nine counties and if it were imagined to be a country then its economy running into $300 billions would make it rank 24th in the world, just behind Canada but ahead of Brazil. This region has the most innovative and diverse economies in USA that allows for healthy competition. Its economy has been based on knowledge and application of the same in new ways. On a per capita count it excelled even the national figures of USA.

The nine counties of the Bay Area are San Francisco, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo. It is the only region that boasts of three jumbo cities – San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. Silicon Valley in the heart of the wine country needs no new introduction.

The biggest contributions from the Bay Area are technologies from the Silicon Valley and venture-capital. In small scale business it also leads giving an outlet to artists, film producers, writers etc. Creativity is the buzz word here. No data of the Bay Area separate from that of California is generally available but here there are many top ranking universities, excellent climate and breath taking scenery. The sunny and cool climate makes it one of best places of the world to reside in. The housing crisis here is not as bad as the rest of the state because of its excellent position that has kept its economy sustainable. The poorer areas like Hayward of Oakland, as well as Richmond are in deep trouble however. Unemployment is rampant. Many from the high income bracket who are consultants living in grade one areas, are seeing their incomes slashed. Their clients have had their wings clipped and cannot afford the steep charges. The economy of the Bay Area is suffering for another reason – traffic congestion. In this regard the recession has been a negative blessing because the problem has somewhat eased due to lack of hectic activity. The public transport does not properly cater to the requirements of the working people in this region. The previous dot com bust had badly shaken the Bay Area but it did not take deep roots and the region weathered the crisis quickly. But the housing problem is far more intense and expansive affecting both jobs as well as houses. Its stains and impressions are likely to remain for many years in the future. The minority pockets have been the worst affected by foreclosures. It is unlikely that that things will improve in 2010. Technically the recession is over but the gloom in jobs and salaries continues. Foreclosure climate is no better. Experts opine that property prices would not swing back to the levels of the 90’s and the first years of 2000 soon. It might after ten years or so. Last March the Bay Area Council expressed confidence that business interests having reached the bottom would once more start to climb – for the first time since 2007 summer. According to a survey taken regarding confidence in business the majority has started to look ahead. However many feel worse days are in front. The top executives in the counties were included in the survey. They opined however that Bay Area would lag behind the national economy during the recovery period.

Posted by Eureka Expert on Jan 9 2010. Filed under Foreclosures, Housing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry