Will we see the start of another housing collapse before the end of 2010? That is what a number of top economists are beginning to fear. The truth is that there are some very troubling signs in the housing numbers. The massive tax credit that the U.S. government was offering to home buyers helped prop up the housing market for quite a while, but now that the tax credit has expired, many real estate professionals are bracing for the worst. The reality is that foreclosures continue to set all-time records, the mortgage industry is a complete mess and another massive wave of adjustable rate mortgages is scheduled to reset in 2011 and 2012. As the U.S. economy continues to falter, and as the nation starts to deal with the economic fallout from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, many are now wondering how in the world Americans are going to be able to afford to purchase millions of these homes which are still massively overpriced. The American Dream is still way too expensive for the vast majority of Americans. So are there signs that housing prices in the U.S. could be on the verge of another major decline? (Read More.....)
Is the current economic crisis creating a generation of American deadbeats? Once upon a time in America, we were taught that no matter how much financial trouble we get in we pay our debts - no matter what. But now that has fundamentally changed. Today, record numbers of Americans are filing for bankruptcy and a new term had to be invented ("strategic defaults") to describe the large number of people who are making "business decisions" to walk away from underwater mortgages. Meanwhile, many of these same individuals who are walking away from their debts are spending big money on cruises, vacations and new cars - as if they were still entitled to all of the good things that come with living the American Dream. Below you will read some incredibly disgusting examples of this. It is as if a whole generation of Americans has decided that "financial responsibility" is a problem that they don't care to be bothered with. But what is it going to do to the U.S. financial system if we can no longer count on people to honor their debts? (Read More.....)
Those who believe that the U.S. real estate crash is over are delusional. The truth is that all the numbers point to the foreclosure crisis getting worse - not better. Many of the talking heads on the major news shows want to make the American people feel better about the real estate market and are projecting that things will soon turn around, but a cold, hard look at the statistics tells an entirely different story. Foreclosures are increasing and there is every indication that they will continue to increase. According to RealtyTrac, initial foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in March, an increase of almost 19 percent from the previous month. It was also the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report on initial foreclosure filings in January 2005. (Read More.....)
The housing crash of 2008/2009 was one of the biggest financial disasters in American history. Approximately 6 million homes have been foreclosed on by lenders in just the last three years alone as millions of American families watched their hopes for achieving the American Dream go up in smoke. Since early 2008, approximately 60 million U.S. homes have lost a combined 5 trillion dollars in value. It has been an unmitigated disaster for homeowners, lenders, home builders, real estate agents and construction workers. Now approximately one out of every four U.S. homeowners are "underwater" on their mortgages. That means that they owe more money than their homes are worth. If that wasn't bad enough, it is estimated that by June of this year approximately 5.1 million American homeowners will own a home valued below 75 percent of what is owed. Can you imagine owing $400,000 on a home that is only worth $300,000? That is where millions of American families find themselves now. In some areas of the U.S., the housing market is so bad that it is almost comical. In California, one bank demolished 16 nearly completed homes because it was cheaper to knock them down than to finish building them. The worst part is that by all indications, the housing crash is far from over. In fact, a massive "second wave" of mortgage defaults is on the way over the next three years that could potentially deliver a knock out blow to the U.S. economy. (Read More.....)
Is It Fair For The U.S. Government To Give Money To Some People (But Not To Others) To Help Them Pay Their Mortgages?