More Awful News on Housing Mortgages, Home Values Crisis

News of three reports today further illustrate the hastening decline and, in some cases, collapse of the home mortgages industry and values in homes in many places nationwide. Most troubling was the report in the value of Americans' collective home equity values to below 50 % for the first time in the 63 years of the tracking of this data. Total collective equity dipped by about 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, down by nearly 5 % from their peak earlier in 2007. Another report indicated almost 11 % of homeowners now have homes with mortgages greater than the home's value, and fears are that number could reach 15 %, even 20 % in 2008 or early in 2009. Still yet another report is showing home sales at the lowest level ever historically recorded. The fallout and repercussions of such stark economic news will be profound across the nation in the coming months and years. And news of foreclosures show the number of homes in peril of going into foreclosure or already in the process continues to rise to historic levels. I posted a report on the historical values of housing with a graph on my other website blog in late December, and its becoming more plausible to believe that home values are going to swing back to their historical norms from their record heights recently. If that happens, the effects and consequences will be catastrophic.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-03-06-foreclosures_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-03-06-foreclosure-chart-q407_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-03-06-foreclosure-record_N.htm

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