BUSINESS WEEK ON THE HOUSING BUST: The Crisis Climbs Over the Mountains. “The mortgage crisis, far from easing, is deepening in the Northwest and Midwest.” In my neighborhood houses are selling, but the ones that sell are going for around 10% less than people paid for ’em a few years ago.
UPDATE: Reader Randolph Resor emails:
Well, it’s also gotten into the Northeast (although not to Washington, DC, of course). I work in DC and live in an “inner ring” suburb of Philadelphia (where my wife still works, and my kids go to school). We are considering moving the family to DC, so I started checking the real estate market. Well, in our little town, there are about 1,000 “dwelling units” (a mix of rental apartments, condos, and single family houses). There are about 250 for sale right now, of which fully 52% are either “distressed” or foreclosures. And this is the sort of place where houses stay in the same family for decades. We’re the third owners of our house (built in 1922).
The crisis has come home to where I live. I estimate my house has lost about 25% of its value. I’m not underwater, not yet, but I don’t have much equity.
Ugh.