...very few of whom have seen any real, in-hand dollars from the run-up, but rather property tax assessors.
Part of the problem, people were borrowing “in hand dollars” against the increased value of their homes. Folks who signed adjustable rate mortgages were told not to worry, since the price of the home would always go up and they could refinance.
Last I heard, nobody knows how much equity was drawn from those inflated prices, but I’d be interested to know.
at the peak period (2005-2006), MEW(mortgage equity extraction) in the US was calculated at over 800 billion a year. People were using that money to buy cars, vacations, flat screen tvs, and drum roll please......................................investment real estate.