Sure seems like there is a lot of bad news in the press – constantly! It sure would be nice if there were some good news about the real estate/mortgage industry lately. People are sick of hearing bad news on all fronts. So what is some of the good news.
“Of the 120 million homes in the US, over 33% of them are completely paid for – no mortgage (that would be nice.) 40 million of the remaining 80 million homes were bought before the year 2000 meaning that even in a “fire sale” they have at least 30% equity in them. 94% of the mortgages today are not in arears at all. Of the 120 million homes in the entire U.S. today, only 4 million are €œat risk€ with less than 2% of all homes actually in foreclosure. I think Congress is about to spend $300 billion (yes, that€™s billion, with a capital €œB€) of your tax dollars to bail out those 2% of home buyers who made bad decisions. Yet the talking heads would have us believe that, like Chicken Little, the sky is falling and we all have to run for cover or risk getting smacked by falling houses.” (courtesy of RisMedia Commentary by Phil Cantrell)
People still need to buy and sell homes and this too shall pass as they say. The mortgage companies will need to get it all figured out – and they will – and things will start to go back to “normal” again. And I mean normal – not the frenetic market we had from 2002-2006. That was not a normal market…mortgage companies gave away money then to anyone with a pulse. Their underwriting today has gone 180 degrees the other direction which is what’s hurting us all right now…but eventually it will swing back. It’s cyclical – always has been. Let’s all just hold tight and know we live in a beautiful neighborhood that has held it’s value relatively well. At least we don’t have foreclosure signs dotted up and down the streets like some neighborhoods. We are lucky!
I found a couple websites that feature good news if you are sick of the bad all the time!
