U.S. Home Vacancies Rise to 18.8 Million on Defaults

[Nikki Stone1]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNQJ9BUq2_yM

U.S. Home Vacancies Rise to 18.8 Million on Defaults

Kathleen M. Howley
Bloomberg News
Thursday, October 29, 2009

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — About 18.8 million homes stood empty in the U.S. during the third quarter as banks seized properties from delinquent borrowers and new home sales fell in September.

The number of vacant properties, including foreclosures, residences for sale and vacation homes, rose from 18.4 million a year earlier and 18.7 million in the second quarter, the U.S. Census Bureau said in a report today. The record high was in the first quarter, when 18.95 million homes were vacant. The homeownership rate, meaning households that own their own residence, stood at 67.6 percent.

The worst U.S. housing crash since the Great Depression has led to a record number of foreclosures and shaved almost a third off property values. The S&P/Case-Shiller Index of 20 cities in August was 29 percent below its 2006 high, after rising for four consecutive months.

“We are bumping along the bottom of the housing market,” said James Lockhart, vice chairman of WL Ross & Co. and the former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. “There is the potential for another swing down.”....

[lunatica]

1. And are these houses which are vacated after defaulting on mortgages for 6 months?

[JuniperLea]

2. Empty houses further erode home values...

My neighborhood has many empty, bank owned homes. They are being sold for half the amount of the mortgage that defaulted. Wouldn't it have been better to find someone in default who could afford these homes and work a deal? How about working the same deal with the owner? Not all owners who default are doing it because they got bad loans or over extended their mortgages by refinancing and taking money out. Some people were off work for a long time and are clawing their way back. There are many various situations.

I'd like to know how the banks profit from removing an owner who can easily afford the mortgage given to the new owners. There must be some reason this is in the banks favor, otherwise we'd see them making deals.

[Nikki Stone1]

3. I wonder if the value of the land will prove to be important later

?

[JuniperLea]

4. No doubt...

I think that's what we're seeing here, getting back to land value. It's really sucking for people who did no wrong, took no high risk, and have lost half of their home value on top of half of their retirement funds.

And we still have yahooies calling for privatization of social security. Some never learn.

[Nikki Stone1]

5. Americans have been steadily dumbed down by a bad educational system

and an increasing amount of magical thinking.

[AllentownJake]

6. Ding Ding Ding

We have a winner

[AllentownJake]

7. If that is a scary figure

[Nikki Stone1]

8. The W curve recession...

:scared: