Housing Pain Gauge: Nearly 1 in 6 Owners 'Under Water' The relentless slide in home prices has left nearly one in six U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than the home is worth, raising the possibility of a rise in defaults -- the very misfortune that touched off the credit crisis last year. The result of homeowners being "under water" is more pressure on an economy that is already in a downturn. No longer having equity in their homes makes people feel less rich and thus less inclined to shop at the mall. (...) About 75.5 million U.S. households own the homes they live in. After a housing slump that has pushed values down 30% in some areas, roughly 12 million households, or 16%, owe more than their homes are worth, according to Moody's Economy.com.
The relentless slide in home prices has left nearly one in six U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than the home is worth, raising the possibility of a rise in defaults -- the very misfortune that touched off the credit crisis last year.
The result of homeowners being "under water" is more pressure on an economy that is already in a downturn. No longer having equity in their homes makes people feel less rich and thus less inclined to shop at the mall.
(...)
About 75.5 million U.S. households own the homes they live in. After a housing slump that has pushed values down 30% in some areas, roughly 12 million households, or 16%, owe more than their homes are worth, according to Moody's Economy.com.
Judging by the French stock exchange, they launched a bubble that lasted...
3 hours and 30 minutes.
Is that ((gaah)) ? Or ((weee)) or something? Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
The bubble lasted 90 minutes.
We are going for nanoseconds of confidence soon. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
The sum of the lengths of the bubbles converges to a finite amount: the time to the phase transition. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
In which circumstances only a fiscal stimulus can be effective. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
