Thursday, October 16, 2008

A downward spiral?

The Miami Herald reports that in South Florida, 40% of homes purchased in the last 5 years are 'worth" less than is owed on them and 76%(!) of the homes sold since 2006 are. This is only the tip of th eiceberg, as the more homes that are foreclosed on by the "lenders" the more home prices will fall, as they are sold for anywhere from 25%-50% less than other homes in that neighborhood. That leads to less "comps" and less valuation, causing more people to default as they will end up being bailed out by the government, &tc., &tc.

Where will it end? Who knows. My advice continues to be for communioty associations to push hard for prompt, aggressive collections and foreclosures of their own as first mortgage foreclosures are now taking over 18 months in many cases....

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