Home Values See Biggest Drop Since 2008

[Purveyor]

Source: CNBC

U.S. home values fell in the first quarter at the fastest rate since late 2008, real estate data firm Zillow said on Monday, suggesting that a bottom will not be seen until 2012 at the earliest.

Zillow said its home value index fell 3 percent in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter, and was down 8.2 percent year-over-year.

The number of homeowners under water—or, those who owe more on the mortgage than their house is currently worth—amounted to 28.4 percent of single-family homeowners, representing a peak since Zillow began calculating the data in 2009.

That was up from 27 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

MORE...

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42955097/

[midnight]

1. So why are the bankers allowed to pussy foot around with hamp/hemp?

[JDPriestly]

2. This is a huge problem for Obama. A lot of these underwater

homeowners were Obama voters in 2008, and many of them will not be bothering to go to the polls in 2012.

Obama handled the foreclosure crisis very badly, very, very badly. Sorry but it's true.

And the fact that the Republicans would have handled it far worse won't help Obama in 2012.

It would be interesting to find out what percentage of teabaggers are troubled by the loss of value in their homes. I say that because many people who are still in their homes feel great loss because their homes have lost so much value in what remains of the market.

The foreclosure crisis should have been handled so that the losses were spread more fairly among the cheaters (the banks) and everybody else. The banks have pretty much made money on events that caused misery to everyone else.

And the Justice Department has slapped hands and imposed fines while Americans have lost or are losing their homes. There is a lack of proportion in that -- a grave injustice.

[jwirr]

3. The Tbaggers may feel like I have encouraged my family to feel.

The monitory value has gone down but for those living in their own home there is a certain added value of having a place to live. As for the house I live in - owned by my daughter & sil, that is a rental and so far the rents have not come down. That may happen in the future but not yet.


This of course would not help the home owner who owes a huge payment and is wondering if he/she still wants to invest in the property. In my family many of the properties are close to being paid off. I have also noticed that lake property is not going down in asking prices.

[Bragi]

4. A desperate workforce in the making

Now that the savings of ordinary people have been plundered via the collapse of housing prices, they will be able to work longer and harder.

Increased desperation of the work force will be good for companies. No doubt the benefits of this will trickle down even to any small investors not yet wiped out.

Capitalism works!