From Rasmussen:
Over one-third of current homeowners say they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth, and outlooks for the housing market in the short and long-term are growing more pessimistic.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of homeowners shows 53% report the value of their homes are worth more than the amount they still owe on their mortgages. But 35% report the opposite and say they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth…
This probably understates the full picture – unless you actively think about it and look in to housing prices, you wouldn’t really know. The other day I saw a new sticker on a new home development sign…prices start at $130,000.00. When I first saw that sign, I think it was starting in the low 200s. Been watching it drop all year. A friend of mine who bought a “bargain” house last year for 210k just had her neighbors house sell for 140k or some such.
And there is still the “shadow inventory” of, perhaps, a couple million homes nationwide being kept off the market by the banks for fear of a complete collapse of home prices. Eventually, though, they’ll have to disgorge…I fully expect my house, which I bought for 396k, to drop to less than 100k before its all said and done.
Just part of Great Depression II, good people.
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