Depressing Facts About U.s.a Housing

[exiges]

From this thread of 27 facts: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-statistics-about-the-housing-crash-2011-3#in-february-us-housing-starts-experienced-their-largest-decline-in-27-years-1

1. As of the end of 2010, 23.1 percent of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage owed more on their homes than their homes were worth

2. 21.5 percent of all homes in New Orleans, Louisiana are currently standing vacant

3. An all-time record of 2.87 million U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in 2010

4. The number of homes that were actually repossessed reached the 1 million mark for the first time ever during 2010

5. Distressed property sales accounted for nearly 60 percent of previously owned home sales in California last

6. Since the real estate peak, U.S. home values have fallen by a staggering 6.3 trillion dollars

7. Deutsche Bank is projecting that 48 percent of all U.S. mortgages could have negative equity by the end of 2011

8. According to Zillow, U.S. home prices have already fallen further during this economic downturn (26 percent) than they did during the Great Depression (25.9 percent)

[okaycuckoo]

Cheery fact: the US is almost past its housing bust.

Depressing fact: the UK is not the US.

[happy_renting]

2. 21.5 percent of all homes in New Orleans, Louisiana are currently standing vacant

I think Katrina rendered a lot of them uninhabitable., and with people leaving NO, unsaleable.

With both the properties and former residents out of the picture, they are (almost) irrelevant.

[Xurbia]

There are bargains everywhere. It's now possible to bag your house with cash, rather than using a mortgage. Britain hasn't escaped the housing crash though. When I first arrived in Seattle it was possible to get $2 to the pound. It's now possible to get $1.62. Houses in Seattle have fallen by about 20% where I live, which mirrors the currency depreciation.

It's a healthy market now, in my opinion. Britain's housing market, by comparison, is a total joke. I prefer to have cheap housing so I can concentrate on buying food, petrol, expensive meals out and building a pension. Britain's high housing is just damaging the long term prospects of the whole population. The fragile nature of the British market will be exposed when interest rates are hiked. Tick tock, tick tock.

[indirectapproach]

And the good news is the american economy is moving beyond its obsession with housing.

With each passing quarter it gets clearer, there is life beyond housing and the economy is not hostage to this one sector.

[Xurbia]

I think Katrina rendered a lot of them uninhabitable., and with people leaving NO, unsaleable.

With both the properties and former residents out of the picture, they are (almost) irrelevant.

I think Lousiana is about as important to the USA as Hull is to Britain.

At some point the Americans have to buy houses as there is a limited supply of new ones being built. The supply in my neighbourhood has dropped sharply and prices are edging up. People cannot ignore the bargains forever. Desirable areas cannot stay down.

[Xurbia]

And the good news is the american economy is moving beyond its obsession with housing.

With each passing quarter it gets clearer, there is life beyond housing and the economy is not hostage to this one sector.

Exactly. Now we can invest in business and get America growing again. I think the whole world thinks America is dead. It will emerge stronger than ever from this depression. High oil prices mean than Chinese goods are more expensive and we can manufacture on US soil again.