Home Foreclosures Were 79% Higher Last Year

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Home Foreclosures Were 79% Higher Last Year

By AP | 29 Jan 2008 | 05:57 AM ET
The number of U.S. homes that slipped into some stage of foreclosure in 2007 was 79 percent higher than in the previous year, a real estate tracking company said Tuesday.

Many homeowners started to fall behind on mortgage payments in the last three months, setting the stage for more foreclosures this year. About 1.3 million homes received foreclosure-related warnings last year, up from 717,522 in 2006, Irvine-based RealtyTrac said. Foreclosure filings rose 75 percent from the previous year to 2.2 million.

More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some phase of the foreclosure process last year, up from about half a percent in 2006, RealtyTrac said. Nevada, Florida, Michigan and California posted the highest foreclosure rates, the company said.

The filings included notices warning owners that they were in default, or that their home was slated for auction or for repossession by a bank. Some properties may have received more than one notice if the owners had multiple mortgages. A late-year surge in the number of properties reporting foreclosure filings suggests that many are in the initial stages of the foreclosure process and could end up lost to foreclosure this year unless lenders or the government steps in, RealtyTrac said.

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/22892316

[CoffeeCat]

1. A real-estate expert...

...said that we aren't even "40 percent into this", in a "60 Minutes" interview
about the housing crisis.

We are just beginning to see the effects.

This is going to be a very bumpy ride. It's not just the housing crisis either.

People are maxed out on their credit cards and spending is decreasing. People
aren't able to get home-equity loans, because of tightening credit. This economy
has been propped up on credit-card spending and people using their homes as ATM
machines. Those spigots are being turned off.

Consumer confidence is down, employment is increasing and the dollar if falling.

Talk about the "perfect economic storm".

Are we ready for this?

[krkaufman]

5. We are at the highest personal debt load ever ...

... and job losses will hit all mortgage classifications, so you'll soon see mortgage problems well beyond the sub-prime category. (Along with what you indicated regarding the number of people who took out mortgages on their homes as a line of credit, loans taken on the expectation of rising home prices.)

These job losses... "Layoffs coming, and in large numbers, survey finds"... will add fuel to the mortgage crisis fire.

The economy and housing markets are in a particularly precarious position, and exceptionally vulnerable to a spike in job losses.

[Robbien]

2. More than 1% of U.S. households were hit with some stage of repossession proceedings last year

according to the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/29/subprimecrisis.useconomy

and we are just getting started.

[Doctor_J]

3. Good thing we're not in a recession yet

Just like we're not being run by fascists yet.

[benld74]

4. Me thinks this ties at the hips to the link below,,,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3160687

[SoCalDem]

6. It's ALL connected..

Having expenses you cannot afford..longterm.. KILLS families and ruins their futures.

People no longer live within their means, because costs have outstripped their ability to absorb rises in cost of living.

"Sleazy Easy credit" ruined millions of people. Many people who came of age in the 80's & 90's got used to using plastic, and had high hopes that their incomes would keep pace, and once they got the house, the equity in it would outpace inflation, AND eliminate their need to even save.

There's a reason why, in the past, people usually did not even buy their first home until they were well into their 30's. If they got married in their late teens/early 20's(which was the norm for a long time), by the time they were in their 30's, their children did not need expensive day-care, and if Mom got an outside-the-home job, what she made was truly "extra money"..often, that money was used to pay EXTRA on the house they would then buy...usually a fixer-upper. They would stay in it until prices rose enough for them to make money on it and then they moved to a house big enough to raise their growing family..For everyone I knew, that house was their permanent house, and they worked their asses off to have that house paid off by the time they reached their late 50's..Every bit of spare cash they could find, went to pay that house off.

These days, EVERYTHING is so much more expensive, that no matter how many jobs they have, there's barely enough to even live on, and between house payments, car payments, gasoline, utilities & medical insurance premiums (or out of pocket health care), there is nothing left...and a lot of times..not even enough left to pay bills.

The 80's ushered in the era of "get rich quick", and more more more..nothing was ever "enough"..

I actually blame "Dallas" , "Dynasty" & all the other shows that came on TV around that time.. Until they came along, most tv shows portrayed people with fairly "ordinary lifestyles" or even sub-par lifestyles..People could tune in every week, and see furniture very similar to their own, houses like theirs, cars like theirs, or not even as good as theirs..

the shows about the super-rich and the advent of plastic-for-everyone, gave people the means to live the good life, even if they could only make installment payments on it..and would never live long enough to ever pay it off..

Couple all this with the plethora of predatory lenders who always show up to con people, and it's no mystery why this all "happened"..It was bound to happen..

You cannot have stagnant wages, rising prices and job insecurity, and NOT have it happen..

[inMD]

7. I heard a silly quote the other day....

you said "People no longer live within their means"

Yesterday I heard an economist on CNN say, "When the economy turns bad, now you have to start to live within your means".

When an economist has this view, you know average people are f'd.

[SoCalDem]

9. Some stock-bunny said this a while back..

"People who earn $40K or so a year, really shouldn't be buying houses that cost more that $450K ." I about choked on my coffee..

Can you even IMAGINE a family making $40K a year being able to make the PITI payments on that much house?? and eating & clothing their kids, and driving cars & paying for medical insuarnce too???

[xxqqqzme]

8. I was checking out of the grocery store yesterday,

looked up to see a 6 foot banner hanging above the in-store bank that read 'Ask us about Bank Owned Properties - Low Rates - No Closing Costs - Fixed Rates'!

Right there at the end of the 'Full Service' check-out lane.