Posted on 05/06/2009 6:35:14 PM PDT by traumer
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home values in the United States extended their fall in the first quarter, with more than one in five homeowners now owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, real estate website Zillow.com said on Wednesday.
U.S. home values posted a year-over-year decline of 14.2 percent to a Zillow Home Value Index of $182,378, resulting in a total 21.8 percent drop since the market peaked in 2006, according to Zillow's first-quarter Real Estate Market Reports, which encompass 161 metropolitan areas and cover the value changes in all homes, not just homes that have recently sold.
U.S. homes lost $704 billion in value during the first quarter and have depreciated $3.8 trillion in the past 12 months, according to analysis of the reports.
Declining home values left 21.9 percent of all American homeowners with negative equity by the end of the first quarter, Zillow said.
By comparison, 17.6 percent of all homeowners owed more on their mortgage than their property was worth in the fourth quarter of 2008, and 14.3 percent were underwater in the third quarter of last year, the reports showed.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
My bro refinanced 3 times to cover his credit card debt, each time he just ran his credit cards right back up to the max, and the third time, I told him that when he’s $20,000 back in debt, he’ll be right back where he is today with no wiggle room in the budget, and he did that too
Two years from now they will be underwater as well.
Yes and it was all BS, did they us Vaseline!!
so 20% are in over their heads eh — that figure don’t sound logical to me.............
Take a deep breath and drown or pay your mortgage and shut up!!!
I am guessing you don’t live in Phoenix... according to the tax man, my house among most of the rest of Phoenix has lost over half it’s value in a year, from $142k to $53k... I can buy a house in my neighborhood for less now than I did 14 years ago...
I remember in the old days when a bank's appraiser would veto a mortgage if he determined that a house was overpriced for the market. And that's why, in part at least, people had the feeling that the bank wouldn't "give them the money" if the house price was way out of line with prevailing prices.
As we all know, that kind of stuff stopped at about the same time that people actually had to qualify for a mortgage and put 20% down.
“and there are many times when some obviously should have walked, think of those who found a place they ‘just loved’ and couldn’t walk away from, whose fault is that?”
You don’t understand, this was even happening at termite infested hovels in the inner city. It wasn’t about the ‘dream home’ it was about having a home period.
“I’d guess there are still small towns that real estate would be priced cheaper, or they could buy a piece of land and get a trailer house, there’s options.”
I can tell you don’t live here. Any place within 50-60 miles had the same thing. Sure you could save some by going that far away but everyone else had the same idea.
I like how people like you always focus on the buyer and call them scumbags, while ignoring the blatant fraud in our govt and the banking industry.
amazing
“I can buy a house in my neighborhood for less now than I did 14 years ago...”
Same here, and the banks are liquidating their property’s driving the price even lower.
Except you won’t find a home here (tampa) for $53k, the low end is the $140k.
>>and there are many times when some obviously should have walked, think of those who found a place they ‘just loved’ and couldn’t walk away from, whose fault is that?<<
Part of it depends on why you bought the house.
If its for speculation or non-speculative short term use then walking away may make sense.
But I bought my house for wife and I to live for at least 20 years to start and raise a family. Our monthly payment is a bit less than our rent was and so the market value of the house doesn’t make that difference to me.
Not to say I won’t be sad if we go underwater but it won’t have significant practical effects.
I wasn’t trying to make a blanket statement, I understand there are some circumstances that would force the buyer to choose, but in most parts of the country that wouldn’t be the case. And your right, I know little of central Florida
Yep. Every situation is different. I spent 20 years of my life moving from pillar to post.
And then I settled down, raised a family and stayed put. It was timing, as well as common sense. :)
“Well, co owning it along with the tax assessor.”
No kidding! :)
“...so they now owe more than their house is worth.”
Yep. It happens. There’s a lot to be said for living in the Boring Old Midwest, where the housing market has been stable, as well as the job market...up until now.
I’m glad I’m not selling in this market. Buying? That’s another situation altogether. You can get some real steals around here if you’ve got the cash and credit to do so.
This is the 5th house I’ve owned. I always had a farm in mind, and that’s what I was working toward when I was painting, wallpapering, sanding floors, laying tile, etc. I never would’ve been able to fix them up and flip them to my advantage in any other housing market than here in the Midwest.
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