October 27, 2007
"It's very difficult to find a refinance loan in the Central Valley" compared with other parts of California, said Raphael Bostic, assistant director of the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate. Bostic said lenders instead are steering money to the Bay Area, Los Angeles and other places where they believe home values will recover more quickly.
"It's a flight to perceived safety," Bostic said about where lenders invest. He said those who do loan money to valley residents have become very choosy about who gets the cash. "The easy money is gone," he said. "Borrowers are going to have to show a higher degree of creditworthiness ... because the capital markets are paying more attention to the details of these loans."