There are too many foreclosures in Merced, California, and students are living in luxury housing

There are too many foreclosures in Merced, California, and students are living in luxury housing (Alberta Times) University of California, Merced (University…

There are too many foreclosures in Merced, California, and students are living in luxury housing (Alberta Times) University of California, Merced) Two female students in Merced had just finished their midterm exams and were dragging their exhausted bodies home. One planned to enjoy the beautiful curved swimming pool under the starry sky, and the other was ready to soak in the famous brand jacuzzi and experience the top bathing experience. The New York Times reported that there are many luxury houses near Merced, but oversupply and over-hyping have made this area one of the most densely populated areas in the United States, creating a strange phenomenon of poor students renting luxury houses at low prices. The rents for these luxury homes are astonishingly low: the annual rent for living in on-campus student dormitories is about 13,720 yuan; the annual rent for general housing off campus is about 7,000 yuan; if several students share a mansion, not only will each of them have an independent suite and bathroom, but also the monthly rent will only range from 200 to 350 yuan, depending on the level of equipment luxury. Dhillon was able to enjoy a palace-like living room, a jacuzzi that rivaled a palace, and a large dressing room filled with baseball gloves and T-shirts. He said: "When you go to visit your friends from other schools and they tell you, 'Let's just lay down on the floor tonight,' you feel very lucky." In 2005, the first batch of freshmen were admitted to UC Merced, which was the first time that UC Merced opened a new campus in 40 years. This spurred a wave of local real estate investment. The emergence of a large number of new communities, oversupply and the bursting of the housing market bubble made this small town with a population of 79,000 people have one of the highest housing foreclosure rates in the United States. Hundreds of empty houses were unavailable, and the owners simply rented them to students at super low prices. Therefore, it became a cost-effective option for several college students to rent out off-campus houses together. However, there are still risks in living in areas with densely populated empty houses. Eber, a crime researcher with the Merced City Police Department, pointed out that empty houses are easy to attract thieves, such as the recent copper wire theft case; homeless people are also easy to call them home. Residents who buy houses locally are also unhappy that students can rent at low prices. Angus, an unemployed English teacher, bought a house in a new community in Merced City for 530,000 yuan a few years ago. Now the house price has been halved. He still has to pay a monthly mortgage payment of 3,000 yuan, but the monthly rent of the students next door is only 300 yuan. He said sourly, "They are the luckiest students I have ever met."