Big Bear as Foreclosure Alley? Not So, as Valley’s Home Foreclosure Rate Is 8.5%

On Wednesday’s edition of the “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” Big Bear was erroneously singled out as the community with the highest rate of home foreclosures in the nation. Early in the news segment, NBC ran a video clip of mailboxes in Big Bear while the voiceover said, “This is Big Bear, California, part of what’s come to be known as Foreclosure Alley in Southern California” and referenced the “nightmare of 700 foreclosures a day.” Call it a syntax issue, but Big Bear is not known as Foreclosure Alley, nor do we have 700 foreclosures a day. In fact, of the roughly 20,000 full-time residents (give or take, depending on the season), Valley-wide, Big Bear has approximately 22,000 single family residences; this, per Steve Schindler, General Manager of the Big Bear Area Regional Wastewater Agency. Of those 22,000 residences, the total currently listed for sale is 948 and, of those, just 81 are in foreclosure. That said, Big Bear’s foreclosure rate based on listings is 8.5% compared to the approximate 40% foreclosure rate for the Inland Empire. Suffice it to say, Big Bear is not facing the nightmare of 700 foreclosures a day and, as we know, our nickname is not Foreclosure Alley.