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• State of the City

• 'A wonderful guy to be around'

• Jury rules no money from state

• Few details on drowning

• Vinewood principal recognized as 'Boss of the Year'

• Regional Roundup

• Foreclosure rate makes Mountain House the 'underwater' epicenter

• Four out of five: Delta College disagrees with most of state's findings

November 19th, 2009

• Logbook

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Operation: Christmas

• Corrections

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Chase ends in crash

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

November 18th, 2009

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Regional Roundup

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

November 17th, 2009

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Regional Roundup

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Clarification

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

November 16th, 2009

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Regional Roundup

• Correction

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Public Meetings

November 14th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

November 13th, 2009

• What to expect with new homebuyer tax credit

• Lodi Muslim: Local mosque not involved

• Regional Roundup

• Burglary suspects are under arrest

• Lodi veteran recounts close calls in Vietnam

• Mayor Larry Hansen points out Lodi's economic progress

• First phase of Lockeford park by 2011?

November 12th, 2009

• Logbook

• Correction

• Robotics team at Jim Elliot invited to compete in Israel

• City of Lodi begins annual leaf removal program Monday

• Liberty Ranch construction at standstill as state pulls funds

• Will Lodi adopt a program that will allow volunteers to work at parks?

• With song and speech, veterans are recognized in Lodi

• 20 years later, Acampo man remembers the fall of the Berlin Wall

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (126)
• Obama is not a moderate (124)
• Lodi Muslim: Local mosque not involved (94)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (54)
• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise (48)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (38)
• Lodi Flames slim playoff chances vanish in setback to Tracy Bulldogs (25)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• The haves should help the have-nots (23)
• Tokay Tigers blow late 27-point lead in loss to Wolf Pack (22)

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Foreclosure rate makes Mountain House the 'underwater' epicenter

Stockton claims the most foreclosures in the nation, but it's the unincorporated town to its southwest that holds the highest number of homes worth far less than the loans that paid for them.

Mountain House is awash with properties devalued into negative equity, according to real estate analysts at First American CoreLogic. In fact, a recent report shows that the town of 8,000 has the nation's highest per-capita rate of what the industry calls "underwater" mortgages — loans that are more than the home's assessed value.

Nationwide, 7.6 million homeowners, as of the end of September, are underwater. Add another 2.1 million inching closer, and the number nears a quarter of all homeowners in the country, based on the same study.

Of the 1,856 mortgages in the 95391 ZIP code — which encompasses Mountain House and a few outlying properties — only 209 homeowners owe less on their mortgages than their home is worth.

Anne Goodrich and her husband, Darren Clark, both 37, are among the 90 percent of the town's homeowners whose loans are more expensive than their property's assessed value.

The two bought their four-bedroom tract home for $400,000 nearly 41/2 years ago, at the height of the market. Today, Goodrich said she would rather forget that her home is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000.

But the news is less dire than it seems, several residents said. Homeowners like Goodrich stuck with negative equity will not necessarily opt to sell at a loss or let the property lapse into foreclosure.

The median household income in the planned community is close to $90,000. That's nearly double the state median and higher than Tracy's $80,000 average family income.

Many who call the bedroom community home can afford to wait out the economic slump, said Andy Su, a local physician and newly elected Mountain House Community Services District board member.

"I think the future of the town is fine," Su said. "Markets are cyclical."

Matthew Balzarini, another top vote-getter in the election for the town's inaugural governing board, added that it's misleading to compare Mountain House to other towns.

"It's not like other cities," he said. "This is not a Mountain House issue. This is partly just that people all bought around the same time, five years ago, when the market was strong. And that's when everyone moved here. That's how young the town is."

Other cities have enough variance in the real estate market to balance the statistics, he pointed out.

Even though Goodrich and Clark owe more than what they signed up for, the couple plans to keep the house. Just because the family dipped into equity and bought on the high end of a since-plummeted market doesn't mean they'll walk away.

"We're going to hang on," said Goodrich, a Bethany Elementary School teacher. "We're just saving like mad right now for when the payment doubles."

That happens in June next year, when her five-year adjustable-rate monthly mortgage payment will jump from $1,300 to twice that.

"Right now, we're more worried about saving the house than saving for our children's college," she said. "We'll go back to the bank when the loan resets."

Recent homebuyers feel the stress, too, but to a lesser extent, because they have less to lose.

Dublin adult school teacher Renmani Kapadia, 29, moved into a four-bedroom Mountain House home in June with her husband, Arif Kapadia, 35. The two bought the place for $298,000, and already the market has undermined that value by another $30,000 or so.

"But it's OK," said the mother of one with another on the way. "All these foreclosures up and down the block, they allowed younger people to enter the market who otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford it."

She said she's actually grateful for the circumstances and plans to live in her new home for several years. At least, she hopes, until "this all blows over."