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BOOM, BUST

Map Reveals Homeowners Hardest Hit by 'Underwater' Mortgages

The southwest is red hot with negative equity

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by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t

Blue, good, Red, bad / Image: Zillow

Business Insider passes along the above map illustrating just where the "underwater" mortgage crisis is most acute. Such mortgages, BI informs us, belong to homeowners "who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth."

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What can be done to help US homeowners get their heads back above water?

Comments (view in Forum)

  • o
    Antiecm
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    Those red places are mostly democrat states so it does not matter if they are upside down or not. They are happy in their confusion. Besdes we just had an election and nothing changed so they must be happy.
  • martydotcom
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    You colorblind perhaps an overlay defining the states would be helpful Redder than red
    AZ, Central FL Utah all bastions of liberal thinkers
  • u
    AceLuby
    !
    @David944 Lol, can't complain about Bush even though we are still dealing w/ his crap, but piling on a guy that left office 32 years ago and basically had all his policies reversed is AOK.

    But since we're on the blame train, let's not forget the House and Senate Republicans that were in control from 1994-2007, especially since any policy had to originate there.
  • u
    David944
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    @AceLuby Since when did congress get involved? Bush is the only person shouldering the blame for anything over the last 12 years.
  • Souljah
    !
    @David944 its hard to blame Oby for something that was collapsing before he got into office, but I do agree that Jimmy didnt do too hot, neither did Reagen.. Clinton was ehh and the Georges?.. well I dont need to continue.. and Obama will get his turn to be judged, imho he's doing a decent job but needs to do a better one this term to be considered better than Clinton or Reagen... thats just my opinion tho..
  • u
    David944
    !
    @Souljah I agree there is plenty of blame to go around. My problem with obama is that he continually blames everyone from congress to atm machines for our problems. He has demonized so many groups along the way its too many to say. He did nothing for the economy in his first term except begin the socialization of our health care and in turn our society. His plans for the next four years are the same as the last four years, I don’t trust his and I am only confident his policies will cost jobs.
  • u
    MOOGG
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    What can be done..........I know of too many people who borrowed against the equity on their homes with banks allowing it by not checking credit-worthiness. People must live within their means even if our government does not. Thankfully, my Mom & Dad taught us how to budget when we were about 12. Teach your children to respect money, please, for they are our only hope.
  • DerivePI
    !
    It takes seven years for a typical housing crisis to correct. We're not done yet. The only thing that pops out on the map is that Texas, a population attractor, is not as bad as the other attractor states.
  • blue_yahoo
    !
    @MOOGG yes, Moog you were perfectly clear. You had wonderful parents who brought you up right. Now, is it clear to you we are talking about present conditions and not future generations to come? This is what my post was about, not some eluded thought that I was posting in response to your post. And yes, ty it has been a lovely day here.
  • u
    Cheenoguy
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    How does going to homeowner's classes change the fact that they bought homes before the housing market crashed brought down home values everywhere.
  • blue_yahoo
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    @Cheenoguy It won't change the facts. But it will give the homeowners some insight as to how to deal with their current situation. Many who bought those homes were inexperienced with costs, budgeting, and maintenance issues that come with home ownership. Just a thought.
  • u
    Cheenoguy
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    @blue_yahoo
    Right but the article is simply discussing those whose home is worth less then they paid for it. That has nothing to do with any of those things.
    A relative of mine bought his modest home even though he qualified for much larger loans. He still has no problem paying his mortgage. His $150,000 home is now worth $100,000. He hasn't paid off $50,000 yet.
    Really doesn't matter as long as you can make your payment and don't need to move. A residence should not be viewed as an investment.
  • u
    ctc
    !
    While it may seem unreasonable that banks don't write down all these properties to current value and renegotiate the mortgages...it is even MORE UNREASONABLE to only allow these homeowners to experience the upside of a housing market and exclude from any relief those that own their properties outright and have witnessed the same drop in value.
  • u
    AceLuby
    !
    So the bill that caused this (removal of Glass Stegal) which was passed by the Republican House, Republican Senate (on strict party lines) and signed by Clinton is somehow now a 'democrat' issue? Please learn what caused the issue before blaming people you simply do not agree with.
  • Denizen_Kate
    !
    @MRMacrum - I read that article last year, and agree with Bloomberg's assessment for the most part, but what about personal responsibility? A lot of people bought homes during the boom that they couldn't possibly afford, they knew they could not afford them, many went for ARMs and couldn't be bothered to look up the word "adjustable" in the dictionary, and we should help them? I know, a lot of banks and mortgage brokers were very predatory during the boom, but I just can seem to drum up much sympathy for those who got themselves into $600k+ mortgages when they knew they didn't qualify for a standard traditional mortgage. Shouldn't there be SOME punishment for being stupid?
  • MRMacrum
    !
    @Denizen_Kate - For sure ultimately it is personal responsibility first and foremost. I was just trying to illustrate that the blame on Freddy and Fannie was misplaced at the financing end. I get tired of the convenient scapegoats folks try to use. This was systemic problem, niot just the fault of one specific group.There is plenty of blame to go around. Unbridled blatant greed at the lending end and naive notions at the borrowing end. Too many people with shaky credit were allowed to buy in. Irresponsible lenders had to know this was bad business, but did not care. And the punishment is now being shared by all of us, not just the folks under foreclosure. And that makes me mad at all of them.
  • o
    Zoe2012
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    @AceLuby I'd like to build a world a home and furnish it with love. Grow apple trees and honey bees and snow white turtle doves.

  • View all 7 replies >

  • u
    Jasonopolis
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    The best thing to do to get these home values up is already being done - massive inflation - but I doubt it is actually going to help anybody. There are more important things to worry about at this point than the lowered value of some people's home value. They entered into a risk in buying the home on credit and this time it did not work out in their favor.
  • Thunderchicken
    !
    What can be done to help US homeowners get their heads back above water?

    Nothing should be done. It is an issue between the signatories of the loan. Every property owner lost money when the market collapsed. It's their situation to deal with. The smart money has been buying at tax and foreclosure sales. Money is made in depressions by buying when prices are low.
  • Vance1
    !
    Thanks to The Democrats , allowing people to purchase homes that they couldnt afford, and thanks to Banks bundling loans, all thanks to the democrats.
    Bush wanted reform on Fanny/Freddy and the democrats said "NO all is fine"
    So do not even try to blame the republicans, Because this time it just doesnt fly.
  • NormalFlora
    !
    The big banks were bailed out for one reason: so they could continue to provide affordable loans to people who need them. So far the banks have not fulfilled their part of the deal. They have turned their backs on hundreds of thousands of homeowners who desperately need to renegotiate their mortgages so they can avoid foreclosure.
  • Politicskid
    !
    These people agreed to this; the banks agreed to this. What do you want to do, tell the bank who took a risk on this "They get a freebie because they didn't save anything"? Most homeowners bought bygones there means.
  • o
    1hardcorerepub
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    Since democrats are going to push through wealth redistribution, perhaps they should just take theses people's homes and redistribute the population like good little communist.
  • Denizen_Kate
    !
    Help? We can get help? I thought we had to just keep plugging away with the mortgage payments and hope for values to slowly rise. I didn't buy my Silicon Valley townhouse until after prices dropped (I bought in 2010), so I guess that's easy for me to say.
  • Jenn
    !
    Foreclose on the homes. They are doing short sales and bringing the values down anyway . I feel bad for people who had tragedy and fell behind but most of this happened because of greed. They gambled with their homes and lost. The moral of this story is don't take equity out of your home if you don't have a way to pay it back.
  • Politicskid
    !
    This is really odd. How come the urban regions with so much government help are hardest hit? Maybe we can't just throw money at the problem...