Foreclosure front: Napa Valley feels pinch

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The third installment of Peter Hong’s foreclosure series in the L.A. Times points out that even in Napa Valley, foreclosures are on the rise: ‘Napa County saw 112 homes repossessed in the first quarter, up from 23 a year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems.’

Though most of those foreclosures are in lower-priced areas of Napa, word of banks taking over $1-million homes no longer shocks: ‘Buyers last week of a Spanish-style, 3,220-square-foot house on a cul-de-sac here got a bargain: $1 million for a hilltop home in Northern California’s wine country, with views to San Francisco in the distance. Two years ago, the same property sold for $1.4 million. But after the lender foreclosed on the property, the home was deeply discounted.’

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