<a href="http://www.ocregister.com/money/foreclosures-hahn-percent-1978983-sales-months">Foreclosure in the sky</a>.
<p><em>Walter Hahn, a real estate economist in Irvine who has followed the project since its development, said he is not surprised about the foreclosure because builder <strong>Bosa Development </strong>did not prevent or cap sales to investors. Hahn said he believes many of the original buyers were speculators,who hoped to resell quickly.</em></p>
<p><em>"I expect more of them to go into foreclosure," Hahn said. </em></p>
<p><em>And that will put downward pressure on prices, since the owner of the loans on the foreclosed properties will try to get rid of them quickly, he said.</em></p>
<p>OMG! I never thought I would say this, but ever since Walter pulled his head out of the sand, he sounds a lot like a bear.</p>
<p><em>Veronica Hicks, head of brokerage <strong>Condos etc.</strong> in Newport Beach, said she is marketing a unit on the 16th story of one of the towers for $950,000 to $1.1 million, which is less than the debt owed to the bank. Such deals are dubbed "short sales."</em></p>
<p><em>Hahn said the market is showing very limited demand for high-rise living. Orange County residents prefer traditional housing, he said.</em></p>
<p><em>Developers who try to prevent investors from buying have a tough time policing their policies, said Dennis Serraglio, director of sales and marketing with Bosa. For example, some developers require that buyers live in the units for at least one year. But he said the contracts allow for job loss or other hardship, which can be difficult to verify.</em></p>
<p><em>He said Bosa has had a few foreclosures in some of its other properties – the company builds in San Diego and Vancouver, British Columbia, where it is based – but the numbers are small.</em></p>
<p><em>"I don't think we will see any big numbers in terms of volumes on short sales and bankruptcies," Serraglio said.</em></p>
<p><em>Eventually interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve coupled with a highly anticipated government boost in the conforming loan limit should spark housing sales, he said.</em></p>
<p><em>"It's definitely a buying opportunity right now. It's very rare that you have prices come down and interest rates as low as they are," Serraglio said. </em></p>
<p><em>He said the big question is when consumers will feel confident enough to start buying, whether in three months or nine months.</em></p>
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