Several days ago I ran into a local real estate broker who told me of the problems her customers were experiencing with federal refinance programs throughout our County of San Diego. This Broker estimated that only about 10% of her customer’s refinance efforts provided by the federal government would actually take place (despite the long loan application process). According to leadership from her local Real Estate Board Association, it is estimated that as many as 150,000 homes could be foreclosed in this region by the first quarter of 2013. Obviously the number of predicted foreclosures by the Board is alarming. Still, this seasoned Broker believes that this action will only add to the growing RE inventory and will further depress an industry that is already hurting around Southern California.   

For years the real estate industry in California accounted for as much as 40% of the business growth in our region. With the recent recession, residential and commercial values have been badly affected. New home building is at a standstill and according to a large well known commercial contractor friend of mine, unemployment in the (building) industry hovers around 40%.

Commercial vacancies are every where to be found. In upscale sections of San Diego, it is not uncommon to find 5+ vacancies per block. In North County San Diego huge commercial sites have gone vacant for months. But such stories are not limited to Southern California alone.

During the last 3 years I have traveled to 11 states (Oregon, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida, Montana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nevada, Indiana and Kentucky) interviewing people and later promoting my new book ( www.16AmazingStories.com ). I have talked to friends and locals who live in these states and all confirm similar stories. The real estate market has been hurt in their regions too.

It’s no wonder. Despite the fact that record numbers of people have left the rolls of the employed, true unemployment is actually hovering around 12-15%. The government does not count the folks that have been looking for a job for more than 2 years. There are also record numbers (48+ million) of people who are on food stamps. These numbers have increasing by almost a 1/3^rd since Obama became President.

Our federal debt is out of control too. It is growing at record levels (more that $3MM each minute of the day)! Yet free enterprise continues to be checked in place by this Administration and its regulatory agencies. Obama has virtually shut down oil exploration on federal lands from the west to the east coasts. For years the California state legislature has been controlled by Democrat assembly and senate members. This body has virtually shut down all off shore oil exploration despite the fact that California has over 18 billion barrels of proven oil reserves just off-shore (from Santa Barbara to Monterey County).

Just think of the number of precious jobs this would bring to our state if these reserves were open. Instead we foolishly send billions overseas to countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Venezuela. All this is occurring during a time when drivers all over the country are paying exorbitant amounts of money to fill up their cars with gas. For me, my gas bill has increased by approximately 35% over the last year.

Nancy Pelosi and her friend in the White House seems to ignore the fundamental problems associated with government bureaucrats impeding energy exploration around our country. They ignore the fact that increased energy will create jobs and bring with it more revenue to federal coffers. It’s no wonder that Democrats like Obama and Pelosi will continue to avoid their miserable economic record they have established over the last 3 ½ years. It’s time for a change.

James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to ChristianMirror.net and author of Porn in America, is a licensed nationwide real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website