The New York Times reports on the housing market in California, where properties that the politicians and the press were declaring "toxic" and threatening to use eminent domain to seize from their owners are now in high demand:
Abel Ruiz has lived with his family in Santa Ana, an inland city in Orange County, for more than a decade. Their landlord recently increased the rent on their one-bedroom apartment to $1,100, plus an $18 surcharge per resident, an increase of more than $300....
Robert Ganem, a former mortgage broker, has bought more than 65 properties in the last four years.
"Things are not too far off the peak prices now, and we just see them going up and up," Mr. Ganem said. "In one complex, I bought a condo for $400,000, and six months later, the exact same model on the same floor sold for $500,000. The market is certainly there."
How much of this is a purely local phenomenon and how much is driven by the Federal Reserve's policies (which are in effect nationwide, not just in California) is an interesting question. It's also the case that while lots of people have been rooting for a housing recovery, that recovery is not without its adverse effects on renters.
