How 10 million Underwater Mortgages are Hurting the Housing Market

finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/zillow-close-to-19-percent-of-homes-still-underwater-143346380.html

Looks like our economy isn't going to get any better with this much instability still in play. I can't help but wonder where everyone who lost their homes when the bubble burst lives and works these days.

Underwater doesn't mean they dont have a home. It means they owe more than it is currently worth. Most likely that means they bought it not long before the bubble burst If they paid so little so far.

They may be homeless but at least they will have affordable health care.

I know... I was just thinking about all those who actually lost their homes too... and that the current homeowners who are already underwater might have to take the next step off the deep end and not be able to come back up. What then? Where do they all go?

I guess they will rent from someone else.

I can attest to the fact that they will NOT have affordable health care either. And I have been trying to warn and educate people about the stark realities for years.

Here in Alabama I own my home out right and don't have to worry about being put in the streets. But when it pertains to my health care needs the insurance quotes the Market Place gave me is too far above my price range to afford.

And I don't make enough money to afford the high cost of health care that my long term medical condition requires. But there's not any programs or government entities to help people like me.

Instead I have to make due without, and if I voice my complaints too loudly I get ridiculed and condemned for being a chronic complainer that can't even afford the basic cost of living.

But at least I'm not in the streets, right?

I work in construction. We are building tons of apartments. They will be "renting" especially with how hard it is to get a mortgage these days.

agree it's not affordable. if you look at it closely you have to come out of pocket deductible and premiums in the thousands before it's worth it.... just pay the penalty fee. it's cheaper. :/ sadly it's only affordable to low income.

That makes sense. Homeowners getting downgraded to apartment renters.

If I was really underwater I would just let it go. but luckily the market values are going back up again since there is less inventory on the market.

I know... they price it that way specifically to ensure that we are soaking up most of the cost regardless to the plans we have to choose based on our income levels as we follow their managed care rules, while simultaneously keeping the insurance companies flush with our extra cash we could be using to buy our homes instead of renting.

We the people are being blatantly manipulated and taken advantage of at the same time the propaganda is being spewed to make it look like the poorer among us are getting just another welfare type handout, when in reality the services we get through cheap or tax funded access are extremely substandard just like we're currently learning about the VA debacle of letting patients die rather than providing timely care.

I bet the next big scandal might involve how cheaply some of the apartment buildings are thrown together for certain sectors of our country, just like after Katrina the trailers FEMA provided for the homeless caused illnesses due to the "cheap" yet "toxic" materials used to build them in bulk.

But are there enough buyers with steady and adequate employment as well as the ready money to take advantage of whats available?

Hey, apartment-renters are not inferior to home owners.

No one said they were. Just that forclosures become renters because it's harder to buy another home.

That's not what I'm saying at all!

I've lived in some apartments I'd prefer to homes simply because of their additional amenities.

I'm looking at it for the moment from the homeowners perspective because I've walked that same path myself.

It isn't meant as a derogatory insult against the people but the system that is steadily stripping our abilities to progress away from the middle and lower classes due to the elites own greed and hands in our pockets.

(((Invictus)))

Hi (((David)))

The concept of being "under water" with a mortgage is really an artificial concept. As long as a home owner can afford the mortgage payments, then the person is still a home owner no matter what the current market value of the home is.

Why would they have to step off the deep end? Just because you owe more than your home is currently worth doesn't mean you can't afford your payments. You are making a very large assumption here.

Thank you for simplifying this particular "under water" part of the US housing market issues our country is currently facing since the bubble burst and so many Americans lives have been turned upside down.

We can be thankful that many are still in their homes, and hope they'll be able to maintain what they have for years to come.