Americans' equity in their homes near a record low (worst since WWII)

AP ^ | 06/09/11 | Derek Kravitz

[nhwingut]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Falling home prices have shrunk equity so much that the proportion of their homes that Americans actually own is near its lowest point since World War II.

The Federal Reserve says average home equity plunged from more than 61 percent at the start of 2001 to 38 percent in the January-March quarter this year. That drop comes as home prices in big metro areas have reached their lowest level since 2002.

[RobRoy]

Conversely, my small farm in central Kentucky that closed in August of 2009 is worth more than I paid for it. I know because I am in the middle of a refi.

[Tennessee Nana]

Well then Im glad I completely own my house out right...

[nhwingut]

There was a story this week about farms being the newest cool thing in investing.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

The elitist left’s answer to the divide between the haves and the have nots is to make everyone into a have not (except for them). It's only fair.

[Tzimisce]

How’s that “Hope and Change” working out for everyone?

[RobRoy]

>>There was a story this week about farms being the newest cool thing in investing.<<

Well, mine’s only 13 acres. ;) And I use the word “farm” loosely. So far we’ve only grown a couple of calves, though we do get over 500 bales of hay off it every year. If I can get there permanently we’ll have a huge garden.

But the payments are lower than my friends time-share payments. :)

[himno hero]

Thank you Omama

[Alberta's Child]

This should come as no surprise to anyone. The mid-2000s saw a huge, artificial increase in home prices driven by low interest rates and loose lending standards. As a result, many people did one of two things in that time period: (1) they paid more for their homes than their homes were really worth by any objective measure; or (2) they took advantage of the rapid escalation in prices by borrowing money against their homes to pay for other things.

Once home prices began their inevitable decline a few years ago, is it any wonder that there is so little equity left in the market?

[EyeGuy]

“There was a story this week about farms being the newest cool thing in investing.”

####

Farm LAND that is bought with the goal of flipping it later, OR an actual working farm that one is planning on working himself?

If the latter, one had better have some real agricultural knowledge before partaking in the next “cool” investing trend.

[NavyCanDo]

Our home has been underwater for the last three years and there is no sign of it getting better. Thankfully we don’t plan on selling.

[familyop]

It’s going to go a lot lower, and for a very long time.

[LomanBill]

It’s a place to live - not an ATM.

Get used to it.