You don't want this "biggest loser" title

The Riverside/San Bernardino real estate blog known as "Housing Kaboom" recently published a post entitled "The Biggest Loser". As you can probably guess from the subject matter, this particular "biggest loser" has to do with housing values. And this is a biggie:

1015 Lowry Ranch Rd is a large estate home up in Crown Ranch [in Corona, California]. According [to] the description this was a model home. It is 5400 sq/ft and has 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. The home was purchased new in May 2006 for 1.83 million. It does not say that this is a REO on the listing but I will assume it is as it shows a sale in June for 1.49 million. It is currently listed for $875K. That is a loss of 53% or $955K!

But this isn't new to Corona. Housing Kaboom shared some similar stories in January:

3350 Cashel LN, Corona, CA 92882...[is] now listed as an REO for....drumroll please........$530k! This home sold in late 2006 for $890k, the bank got it back a short 11 months later for $760k. I'm guessing 1st payment default on this one. This home, if it sells at $530 will have dropped $360K in just over a year. That's 41% in one year!

Going back to 2007, my mrontemp blog previously linked to a similar story from Eastvale, north of Corona. The Orange County Register reported, in part:

Former Fountain Valley residents Billy and Betty Lambright moved to this dairy land east of Chino in July, paying $620,000 for a new two-story house near brand new shopping centers and medical facilities the retired couple needs.

A few months after they moved into their tile-roofed dwelling and landscaped the back yard with lush grass, rose bushes, a trickling fountain and spindly fruit trees, the builder dropped the price for the same model by $45,000, plus free upgrades.

"They gave me a good deal, they said. But after that, they dropped the price to $575,000," Lambright said. "You can't cry over spilled milk."

The OC Register article was written over a year ago, in April 2007. No word on whether the Lambrights have tried to sell since then.