Even during a drenching rainstorm two weeks ago, more than 30 groups of potential buyers toured an 814-square-foot condominium in West San Jose, seemingly defying conventional wisdom about the sluggish real estate market.

But it wasn’t a normal open house; in fact, visitors had to tread warily through the darkened property on Weyburn Lane because the electricity had been turned off. The two-bedroom condo is one of about 150 bank-repossessed Bay Area properties that will be auctioned Saturday in San Mateo.

As foreclosures have soared in California, large auctions of bank-owned properties are becoming more frequent. Saturday’s is the third in the Bay Area in recent months, and similar auctions have occurred in Sacramento and Modesto.

Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell 2.7 percent last week as purchases declined to the lowest since April and refinancing cooled.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to buy a home or refinance a loan dropped to 636.7 from 654.2 the prior week. The group’s purchase index slid 1.8 percent to 411.4, and its refinancing gauge lost 3.8 percent.

Rising defaults on subprime mortgages and harder-to-get loans are squeezing demand, deepening the housing slump and raising concern about a broader economic decline. Economists forecast sluggish sales will add to the glut of unsold homes and continue to depress property values this year.

After Epson failed to send my promised rebate and ignored my follow-up
letters, I stopped buying items with rebates. If they want to put
something on sale, they can lower the price to the consumer. The rebates are
just a racket and I refuse to play their game. I make sure I tell the
sales clerks this when they recommend a product with a rebate.
GG in CA

We’ve all done it. We’re tempted to purchase an item with a rebate. The
after rebate price is good. But, we wonder whether we’ll really
receive the rebate. Because without it, the price offered is not the best
deal available.