[dynachrome]

“In Nevada, 70% of mortgages were underwater.”

Some friends of mine in Reno just went bankrupt and dumped their condo. Approx. $50,000 underwater. He was laid off recently, too.

[bergmeid]

These people wouldn’t be complaining if their homes would be worth MORE than they owe.

[Gay State Conservative]

Well,one thing’s for certain...the days of the 0% down mortgage are over.Which is fine by me,at least partially because the last time I applied for a mortgage the standard procedure was 20% down.

[longtermmemmory]

based on REAL world values the number is much worse.

It is just there are people still able to pay these outrageos mortgages. (as in fraud in the inducement based on bank mandates apprasals)

Banks no longer make public their home apprasal formulas.

[Jacquerie]

The effect of the real estate depression can extend well beyond the borders of the states in which the property is located.

Most of the distressed properties in my FL beach community are owned by Georgians. Most of them are from the greater Atlanta area. Several have been recently sold by banks for 10-15 cents on the dollar to the purchase price in 2005-2006. No kidding.

[Cementjungle]

More than 10% of people with mortgages owe 25% more than their home is worth.

Which would only be a problem if they had a reason to sell soon... otherwise, it makes ZERO difference.

[trumandogz]

Screw them, they made a bad investment and have no one to blame but themselves.

[himno hero]

Get rid of that marxist in the WH and things will change rapidly. Probably quick enough for the homeowners to wait it out....with a little cooperation from their lenders.

[gogogodzilla]

Why is everyone looking at homeownership in a short-term light? “Oh, I bought my house 3 years ago and it lost half the sale price!”... is the common thread.

People usually buy homes and get a 20/30-year mortgage to pay it off. They hope to live in the house for as much of that time as they can.

So, if the homebuyer *BUYS* the house with a view to the long-term, why aren't they looking ‘long-term’ as the end value of the house 20/30 years into the future?

This idiocy of buying a house for the long-term and then panicking because of short-term loss is ridiculous.

[sten]

ok... i guess i never knew that stat.

11.3m mortgages == 25% of all mortages?

so there are only 45m mortgages in the US? i knew the 110m household number... i guess the difference are renters??

[mysterio]

Fruits of outsourcing.

[VOA]

bump

[Lorianne]

If you have zero equity, how can you be a “homeowner”?