Home losses on the upswing

[UpInArms]

http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1066318065142330.xml

Genesee County - No one wants to lose his or her home, but it's happening more frequently.

People of different incomes in Flint and the suburbs alike are defaulting on their mortgages at a much higher rate than a few years ago, records from the Genesee County Register of Deeds and public notices indicate.

Experts blame the increase on high unemployment, a sluggish economy and an increase in personal debt.

<snip>

And the number has been growing steadily from 272 in 1995 to 669 in 1997 and 974 notices in 2000.

...more...

[joeybee12]

1. Not a surprise--this sector of the economy always lags behind

And since it does, it will nosedive next year and even the most ardent Bushie will be hard-pressed to say the economy is recovering.

[dArKeR]

7. I've been listening to the network media whores saying 'recovery is

next quarter' for 3 years. Has anyone been recording them? Why doesn't a Dem. play these back in a commercial? So what if there is a recovery now. It's been 3 years of terrible Bush management of our economy. Just think how high we'd be now if Gore was given the chance to continue Clinton's economica policies!!!!

How stupid could Americans be to give that idiot another chance to screw things up!

It's all special interest money going into the Junior campaign. Not Americans' money!

[prolesunited]

2. I can't imagine

how terrible this must feel and we're going to see more and more of it. After all, what does the Bush administration care. This just means more money in the hands of the wealthy elite.

[bahrbearian]

3. Don't they still have Sharecropping !!

[teryang]

4. Those are some serious losses

<At the end of June, 1.47 percent of mortgage loans in Michigan were in the foreclosure process and 5.17 percent were delinquent, or at least 30 days past due, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America said in a recent delinquency survey. The percentages>

[cliss]

5. yes, it's very sad.

The housing market is at its peak right now. The refinancing boom has been going on for a decade. Economists have been saying that the housing market is THE ONLY thing that is keeping our economy going at the present time.

So the question is, how long can it keep up the momentum? Right now, 3.5 million people have lost their jobs. Many more people have taken lower paying jobs, in order to keep going. But -- lots of people are in the process of losing, or will soon lose their homes.

Many jobs are lost, and they are not coming back. If enough people become homeless, things will be like back in 1929. It will cause the economy to tank.

[JNelson6563]

12. "how long can it keep momentum?"

Answer: no longer.

Re-fi's, the workhorse of this struggling economy have dropped over 80% since last May. Mortgage apps are at new lows.

Looks liek the party is winding down right quick. Buckle up, rough road ahead.

Julie

[Voltaire99]

6. The Economist's bubble predictions grow truer by the day

Put the grown-ups back in charge. Fast.

[SahaleArm]

8. Recovery propoganda.

The economy is not getting better, it's a fictitious job-loss recovery. Stocks, mainly techs, are driving this recovery with forward P/E's greater than 50. Companies are showing short-term profit growth due to automation and outsourcing (to India and China). The mortgage backed securities market is bubbling, too much cheap money being thrown around (mortgages, home equities). The techs will drop back once short-term profits go away, the housing market will feel the pinch of homeowners unable to afford their mortgages, and more jobs will be lost due to the above.

[teryang]

9. The PEs were still too high

...at the beginning of the so called market recovery.

[yelladawg]

10. If I didn't know better

The repug controlled bamks are tighteing up the foreclosure rules to make some land grabs for themselves.

[Mari333]

11. all over here also

People have their houses up for sale etc etc..the property taxes going up, the jobs drying up..Its a clusterF8ck of monolithic proportions.
Guess we all get to retire in large cardboard boxes.

[JNelson6563]

13. Is your region of Michigan

also seeing more foreclosures? Up here in Traverse City I have noticed a great many compared to previous years. Also note how much longer pricier homes are on the market.

We are usually a bit more isolated from economic fall-out than the more urban parts of the state. Many buy summer homes here and they come from real far to do it. Tourism is booming with folks being less lavish, northern Mich is cheaper than more exotic places. Still, I see it starting to hit.

Do you think it's the whole state or just pockets?

Julie

[beyurslf]

14. I work in mortgage lending

and they're right. The boom is over and it has been. I had 75 working files in my pipeline in June. I have 2 now. We let 200 people go in September and the rumor is a whole center is closing somewhere in Nov.