Under HAMP, the can is getting kicked down the road: home mortgages are being modified, reducing monthly payments upwards of $800-$1000.
The real problem for 3/4 of these folks isn't their home mortgage, it's their credit card debt. Their ability to pay those down is being devoured by gas prices heading to $5/gallon.
Obama's being too cute by half. We all know he wants gas prices to skyrocket, yet he's too narcissitic to realize that he won't be re-elected next year unless gas prices fall back to $3/gallon.
Improved home values???
Hell, even some of my squishy moderate friends are now asking me to recommend them a good home defense firearm for SHTF because they know I'm a gun enthusiast.
I don't think that "improved home value" even enters the thought process.
We stepped out on a home in Myrtle Beach, SC in the hopes of selling the property in about 5 years or so. The thing here is location, although there are many foreclosures on the market that could keep the prices down area wide. Ours is a quiet, (even during the sporadic bike week), kid friendly neighborhood four blocks off of the ocean, with a great corner lot, so our investment will probably pay off.
Instead of bailing out banks on forclosures, they should have used the stimulus razing homes. About the time we walk thru all this excess inventory, the baby boomers will be stepping out of their homes into nursery homes.
If I thought there were any buyers for the one I own,
I would sell it tomorrow and I would never buy another one.
Home ownership has become an albatross around your neck.
The homes go on the market here and just sit there...
The only interest is from investors who would but them and rent them out;
but my idiot homeowners association requires homes to be owner-occupied.
from an earlier thread ( link)
| year (jan) | note | my home $ | gold $/oz | my home in gold(oz) | silver $/oz | my home in silver(oz) |
| 2006 | 425k | 550 | 772 | 9.25 | 45,946 | |
| 2007 | dems move into congress | 380k | 625 | 608 | 12.75 | 29,804 |
| 2008 | dems have congress for one year | 290k | 885 | 327 | 16.00 | 18,125 |
| 2009 | dems take whitehouse, 0bama steps in | 270k | 860 | 314 | 12.00 | 22,500 |
| 2010 | dems in full swing | 250k | 1150 | 217 | 17.50 | 14,286 |
| 2011 | GOP takes back the house | 224k | 1360 | 164 | 29.00 | 7,724 |
| 12 APR 2011 | 222k | 1452 | 153 | 40.05 | 5,543 |
although it may look like my home value dropped to 50% of what it was in 2006, in real world buying power, it is now 16-20% of what it was in 2006.
the dems and progressives have done a real job on the people of the US
do the math yourself. check out zillow.com for your home value over the passed 5 yrs. plug those values in, calculate the value in terms of ounces of gold and silver... and you'll see how much you've lost
update:
how much exactly?
| denomination | # ounces | market value ($) |
| gold | 619 | 898,788 |
| silver | 40,403 | 1,618,140.15 |
Those 39% are in denial! Most, if not all, are probably Leftists!
No matter what, my county appraisal will continue to go up on my home.
Good, people are finally getting realistic. Unfortunately, realism will soon turn to pessimism and we will be 2 years solid into a housing recovery before most people are aware of it. That said, I don’t expect housing to recover in the next 5 years either, but it will certainly bottom. I would be shocked if we don’t get a bottom by 2012. I could be slightly wrong there but I will still be shocked if house prices in most cities are down year over year from 2012 to 2013.
We have a huge glut of housing in some places, which will depress prices and make selling difficult and long, but prices won’t go down forever. At some point, most people will just sit it out or rent their homes out before taking further losses. It seems to me we are getting close to that point. But what do I know?