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About 270,000 homebuyers who bought during the red-hot housing market this year already owe more than their house is worth... Among the 450,000 underwater borrowers in the third quarter, nearly 60% had mortgages originated in the first nine months of 2022... That's about 1 in 12 homes purchased in 2022 with a mortgage, or 8%. Nearly 40% of homes bought this year have less than 10% of equity left to tap. The figures reflect yet another fallout from rapidly rising mortgage rates this year, which have put pressure on housing values as home price growth cools at a record pace...

“Expectations becoming extrapolative.” The Bank of Canada isn’t known for poetic flourishes but, in its description of the mania at the heart of Canada’s housing market, there’s a delightful cadence, appealing alliteration and a lot of truth. In plain terms: Prices are soaring, in part because buyers believe they will keep on soaring. People are assuming a future of higher prices, by extrapolating from a present where prices are rising rapidly. These assumptions are a very human tendency. But they’re also dangerous, because extrapolated expectations eventually hit a wall. The central bank, in its annual financial system review released last...

The housing news out this morning was all good, by historic standards. The S&P Case-Shiller house price index was released today and showed an increase of 0.88% (although you can barley see it on the chart). The slight rise was driven by Los Angeles an Las Vegas. New home sales in January surprised to the upside by 15.6%, but it remains low by historic standards. However, houses for sales remained the same. The median price for new home sales fell -9.37%. Consumer confidence rose to 69.60, despite the media rhetoric about the “savage and draconian” sequestration cuts. That I can...

Home prices fell for the 53rd consecutive month in November, taking the decline past that of the Great Depression for the first time in the prolonged housing slump, according to Zillow.

I'm in my late 20s. A month ago, I learned, for the very first time, that a friend my age and his fiancé were about to buy their own house. A week later, another friend and his fiance, both just over 30, told me that they had gone house-hunting in New Jersey over the weekend. And that was wonderful news! And it was only possible because house prices have finally fallen to a level that people like me can afford. Specifically, house prices have finally fallen to close to their long-term average relative to rents and incomes--to a level where...

In October, median new home prices plunged to $194,900 from an upwardly revised September figure of $226,300. While revisions for the previous three months show that pricing was firmer than previously expected, October's plunge in new home prices renews concerns about the stability of the new homes market. The 13.9% monthly drop in new home prices last month is the highest on record. Median new home prices are now at their lowest levels since October 2003. Median new home prices are down 9.4% from this time last year and down 8.6% from this time two years ago. This is the...

"The economy is tough. The (real estate) market is tough. Why aren’t my taxes going down?” St. Croix County Treasurer Cheryl Slind said that’s the question she has been hearing ever since property tax bills went out earlier this month. While the market value of many houses probably has dropped, it takes time for the assessment and equalized value processes to catch up, said Slind. Besides, she said, the drop is likely temporary. Also, said the treasurer, property tax bills — many of which have actually fallen a little this year — can’t go down significantly unless municipalities and schools...

Work with lender as soon as possible to avoid owing more than your house is worth. Sunday, November 12, 2006 In the next couple of years, a combination of rising mortgage interest rates and falling or slow-growing home value could plunge thousands of homeowners underwater. Being underwater means owing more than the house is worth. It's an especially risky situation for people with interest-only mortgages and pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages because they don't build equity unless they choose to. Some might be able to refinance or get through hard times by living frugally. Others will have to sell their houses. Still...

LANCASTER [California]- Prices paid for existing homes in the Antelope Valley rose more than 20% in the last year, while some areas of Santa Monica and Pasadena saw median home values fall 20%. Reports from the Data Quick News service support projections from the California Association of Realtors, or CAR, that the rate of home-price appreciation will moderate next year. Sales in 2006 will decline slightly from this year's record pace, according to the Association's "2006 Housing Market Forecast" released Sept. 20 to 22. That prediction appears to be coming true in Santa Clarita, where, of less than 100 existing...

By MICHAEL RAPPAPORT, STAFF WRITER Apparently California home buyers follow the national news. With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates again and again, would-be buyers bought homes all across the state in December, driving prices closer to a $500,000 median and keeping sales high. In fact, the median price of an existing single-family home in the state climbed to a record high of $474,480 in December in numbers released Tuesday by the California Association of Realtors. That's an 18.1 percent increase from a year ago. "Home buyers concerned about future mortgage-rate increases flooded the market in December," said Jim Hamilton,...

RISMEDIA, Feb. 26-The median price of an existing home in California in January increased 20.7 percent and sales increased 5.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported. "The inventory of homes for sale is nearing a critical juncture," said C.A.R. President Ann Pettijohn. "In a more balanced market, there is a seven- to 10-month supply of homes for sale. In January, it was just two months. As a result, constraints on supply continue to impact both the availability and affordability of housing options for California families." Closed escrow sales of existing,...