One in five U.S. homeowners are underwater

One in five U.S. homeowners with mortgages owe more to their lenders than their homes are worth, and the rate will increase as housing prices drop in states that have so far avoided the worst of the crisis

NEW YORK (Reuters)- One in five U.S. homeowners with mortgages owe more to their lenders than their properties are worth, and the rate will increase as housing values drop in states that have so far avoided the worst of the crisis, a new study shows.

About 8.31 million properties had negative equity at the end of 2008, up 9 percent from 7.63 million at the end of September, according to the study, released Wednesday by First American CoreLogic.

The percentage of “underwater” borrowers rose to 20 percent from 18 percent.  Another 2.16 million properties could go underwater if home prices fall another 5 percent, the study shows.

First American said the value of residential properties fell to $19.1 trillion at year-end from $21.5 trillion a year earlier, with half the decline in California. Forty-three U.S. states and Washington, D.C., were included in the study.        Breaking News

Housing recovery plan is heading in the wrong direction

How to rescue housing? The Obama administration doesn’t have a plan — or, more accurately, it has only half a plan. It presupposes that preventing or minimizing home foreclosures is a formula for revival. It isn’t.

Almost everyone agrees that a housing recovery is essential for a broader economic upswing, in part because housing’s collapse brought on the recession. Mortgage delinquencies triggered the financial crisis. Tumbling home prices (down 26 percent from their peak) ravaged consumer confidence, borrowing and spending. Since late 2007, housing-related jobs — carpenters, real estate agents, appraisers — have dropped by 1 million, a quarter of all lost jobs.

Housing’s distress is too much supply chasing too little demand. Huge inventories of unsold homes have depressed prices and construction. Given that prices rose too high in the “bubble” — homes were affordable only because credit was dispensed so recklessly — much of this painful adjustment was unavoidable. But that process should be mostly complete.        Breaking News

Renters losing ground to homeowners

A new housing development in Las Vegas, a market like several others in the U.S. where the cost equation has shifted in favor of homeownership.

At the height of the housing boom, as home prices surged, demand for rentals started to rise as the gap between owning and renting widened significantly. Even after the housing market soured, apartment demand grew as former homeowners became renters, allowing landlords to push healthy rent increases.

Now, after two years of rapid home-price depreciation, the relationship between the cost of rental payments versus after-tax mortgage payments is tilting toward ownership in a number of metropolitan areas.

Over the past 18 years, after-tax mortgage payments have averaged 26% more than rent payments, according to Green Street Advisors, a real-estate consultancy based in Newport Beach, Calif. In 2006, at the height of the housing bubble, mortgage payments reached as high as 66% more than rent payments.         Breaking News

Home prices slide at record pace

For buyers with stable jobs, plummeting prices and low interest rates have created a sweet spot.

A slew of indexes confirm what every homeowner knows: 2008 was 4 quarters of misery. But for would-be buyers with stable jobs, plummeting prices and low interest rates have created a sweet spot.

Two home-price surveys released today showed a fourth quarter unmatched in its misery for homeowners. In a third report, out earlier this month, the National Association of Realtors showed the U.S. median house price falling to $180,000 — a 12% loss in 2008.  The surveys differ in their results because each uses different information.

The housing finance agency doesn’t include jumbo loans, for example, but surveys 292 cities rather than 20. All, however, show the same record-breaking declines in values.        Breaking News

No stimulus help for those with jumbo mortgages

Neil Littman, who lives near Boulder, Colo., says conforming-loan limits in the area are too low.

Washington is trying to ease the mortgage crisis by helping people refinance into home loans with better terms. But one group is being left on the sidelines: borrowers with loans too big to qualify for government backing.

President Barack Obama’s housing stability plan, announced last week, excludes such borrowers from nearly all of its mortgage-bailout provisions. Instead, it focuses on middle-income consumers who have lower, so-called conforming loans. Such loans top out at $417,000 in most parts of the country, though they can run as high as $729,750 in certain pricier markets, such as parts of California, New York and Hawaii.

Anything bigger is called a “jumbo” loan — and not only is the government ignoring this segment of the market, so are lenders, few of whom are originating or refinancing jumbo mortgages. The reason: Jumbo loans are too large to be guaranteed by a government-backed mortgage agency, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, meaning banks assume the risk if the loan goes bad. In the current lending environment, few banks want to take on any risk.

That’s hurting borrowers like Pete Zipkin, who’s the kind of affluent customer that banks once coveted. The 35-year-old technology executive — who says he has a spotless credit record and at least 20% equity in his home — has come up empty-handed in his search for a jumbo mortgage of more than $1 million for his recently built five-bedroom home in Alamo, Calif., near San Francisco.        Breaking News

White House objects to ‘rant’ on housing

WASHINGTON – The White House on Friday dismissed a cable television reporter’s criticism of President Barack Obama’s housing bailout plan as the ranting of an individual who “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

In a report on CNBC on Thursday, Rick Santelli animatedly accused the Obama administration of “promoting bad behavior” with its $75 billion lifeline to millions of Americans on the brink of foreclosure.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs poked fun at Santelli by inviting him to come to the White House to read the details of Obama’s plan. “I’d be happy to buy him a cup of coffee,” Gibbs said. In a nod to Santelli’s caffeinated style, Gibbs then wryly added: “Decaf.”        Breaking News

Housing bailout up to $275 billion

PHOENIX — President Barack Obama promised help for up to nine million struggling homeowners to refinance or modify their mortgages, in the most significant move to aid homeowners since the housing crisis began.

The plan, which could cost as much as $275 billion, will enable as many as five million homeowners who have little equity in their homes — or even owe slightly more than their homes are worth — to refinance loans through government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.        Breaking News

Florida courts blast through forclosure cases: 20 seconds per case

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Hoping to save her house, Saundra Hill Scott arrived at the county courthouse clutching dog-eared mortgage bills and letters from her lender.

She need not have bothered. The foreclosure hearing lasted less than 20 seconds, with Judge John Carlin asking her two questions: Are you current on your mortgage and are you living in the home? She answered no and yes and then offered to show him her paperwork.

“I don’t need to see that. That’s between you and the bank,” he said as he gave Ms. Hill Scott, her husband and three grandchildren 60 days to work out a deal with their lender or vacate their three-bedroom house.        Breaking News

Obamas mortgage relief plan more than expected

PHOENIX – President Barack Obama’s plan to tackle the foreclosure crisis will spend $75 billion in an effort to prevent up to 9 million Americans from losing their homes.

In tandem, the Treasury Department said it would double the size of its lifeline to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government, which seized the mortgage finance companies last fall, said Wednesday it would absorb up to $200 billion in losses at each company.  The plan, which Obama is releasing later Wednesday, is more ambitious than initially expected — and more expensive.        Breaking News

Stimulus: $8,000 for homebuyers

First-time purchasers get a tax credit windfall if they buy before December.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — There’s a nice windfall for some homebuyers in the economic stimulus bill awaiting President Obama’s signature on Tuesday. First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 – or 10% of the home’s value, whichever is less – on their 2008 or 2009 taxes.

A big plus is that the credit is refundable, meaning tax filers see a refund of the full $8,000 even if their total tax bill – the amount of witholding they paid during the year plus anything extra they had to pony up when they filed their returns – was less than that amount. But there has been a lot of confusion over this provision. Adam Billings of Knoxville, Tenn. wrote to CNNMoney.com asking:        Breaking News