Reply #8: So do I, but someone should be talking about perspective at a national level

[imdjh]

Change the question people are asking. Stop asking, "Did I pay too much for my house?" or "Do I owe too much on my house?" and start asking, "Can I rent an identical house for less than my mortgage payment (with tax consideration) and if I can is the difference worth living in someone else's house where I can't make it the way I want it?"

People now pay for cars more than their parents probably paid for their first house. In thirty years that car will be worthless. The same still cannot be said of a house. If you paid a million dollars for a house that is now worth $500,000 then you might consider walking away. But if you bought an average house and it's now worth 50% of what you paid for it, then you might consider why you bought it in the first place, why you paid such a premium, and then legitimately reckon that those factors will cause it to come back faster than some of the houses you didn't consider.

Consider this. People who bought tract homes in major suburbs in 1990 got scared when the housing market went to hell shortly thereafter and the builders were slashing prices on the remaining homes and sites in the development. But those people who held onto their overpriced houses could sell them today, even in this messed up market for twice what they paid for them. So assuming they didn't leverage the hell out of the house to play the stock market, they'd be able to sell their house and buy a really nice retirement home in Florida for cash.