SAN DIEGO -- Two years ago, El Centro was considered the place to buy a new home at an affordable price.

Homebuyers who were priced out of the San Diego market moved to developments in the El Centro area.

"I came down here and found this lovely neighborhood, and fell in love with it," said Mike Sangi.

Sangi moved to El Centro from San Diego two and a half years ago. He has watched foreclosure after foreclosure turn his neighborhood into a ghost town.

"The toll that it's been taking is on the property values," said Sangi.

The decreasing values and foreclosures put a huge dent in tax revenues for the city. El Centro has lost close to $14 million over the past two years -- a 50 percent loss that will take time to recover when property values start to increase.

"As things get better, it can only increase by two percent under the state constitution. So you can drop 50 percent but it will take 25 years to crawl back up," said El Centro city manager Ruben Duran.

Over that period of time, Duran said a lot of services are left without tax dollars they once counted on.

"Those schools that were the recipients of it are not going to have those revenues," said Duran.

Duran said foreclosures that closed the doors for some have created new opportunities for others.

"Because instead of paying $300,000, they're getting this house for $185,000, which is the right price," said Duran.

Sangi said he has seen some of that turnaround in his neighborhood, a little bit at a time.

"There have been a couple of new homes that have turned around within a few months. We ended up with some really good neighbors," said Sangi.

It is one high point for an area that faces a long recovery.

Duran said new businesses are coming into Imperial County and are helping to offset some of the losses suffered by the housing market.