8.3 million Americans are “upside-down” (also called “underwater”) in their mortgages. The number may soon top 10.5 million. This situation has arisen due to certain trends in the housing market and lender behaviors over the past five years.
In the United States, the so-called Housing Bubble peaked in 2005, and has declined dramatically since that time. In a “bubble” the appraised value of homes and property increases exponentially until out of proportion with parallel trends in income. Due to the resultant dropping sales, home values plummet. For home-owners this is bad news, especially if they bought during times of high prices.
The sub-prime mortgages (loans offered to consumers with below average credit or income, usually at higher than usual interest rates) popular with banks before 2006, thanks to the high profit margin have exacerbated this situation, resulting in “upside-down” or “underwater” mortgages. If, for example, one bought a home in 2005 which appraised for $400,000, and the home is appraised in 2009 for $200,000, the amount still owed may be considerably higher than the current value. Besides the inherent financial loss, this results in a negative equity situation—it becomes nearly impossible to refinance, and foreclosures rise as there is little benefit to consumers not to walk away from their mortgages completely.
