With real estate markets in a downward spiral and many Americans having upside down mortgages (owing more than their homes are worth), a recent study by Forbes seems appropriate.

Forbes studied the 150 largest housing markets in America, and using data from the US Census and the National Association of Realtors, they created a list of the 50 communities with the highest amount of homeowner debt.  For this study, they looked at the median house price, percent the house value changed since 2007,  number of outstanding mortgages, houses that had second mortgages or home equity loans, and houses that had both second mortgages and home equity loans.  Studying all of this data they compiled their list.

Sacramento, California, was found to be the community with the most homeowner debt.  Did your community make the list?

Click here to read the whole article.

I was reading a recent report by the Federal Reserve that stated that the total equity for homes in the U.S. was at its lowest point since 1945. As a matter of fact, the equity ratio is actually below 50% for the first time ever (they only have statistics back to 1945). What this means is that the American public for the first time owes more on their houses than the equity that is in their houses. Since 1945 we have been through multiple recessions and economic downturns, but this is a first.

A few other stats from the released report:

• 8.8 million homes (a little over 10%) have zero or negative equity
• Homeprices have fallen 8.9% in the last year
• If home prices fall another 20%, 13.9 million homes will have negative equity

These are dark times for the real estate market, and I do not believe we have hit the floor yet.

The new boom in real estate is the home auction business, which is sweeping the U.S. at an unprecedented pace, according to a new report by Housing Predictor.

All time record foreclosures caused by the melt down in the mortgage business have led lenders to make more foreclosures than ever before in U.S. history. Already 1-million homes have been foreclosed in 2007, and Housing Predictor forecasts at least another 2-million homes will be foreclosed through 2009. The forecast may be increased substantially unless Congress steps in to intervene and save home owners.

The tsunami of foreclosures initially produced a record setting pace as a result of unregulated subprime mortgages. But the crisis has spread into conventional mortgages, which are now being foreclosed at an accelerating rate. The crisis is so bad that home owners in California, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Michigan and Indiana (Indianapolis City Guide) among other states are leaving their keys on the kitchen counter and fleeing their homes in record numbers. Additionally, there are many Maryland, New Hampshire, and Utah foreclosures.

The foreclosures, however, have led to the largest home auction business in history with more auction companies going into business than ever, including online auction companies like Realty Bid and RealtyStore, which offers a national foreclosure listing service with foreclosures throughout the entire U.S.

The Chief Executive Officer of RealtyStore, Tim Chin says it’s a win-win situation for his company’s customers. “Our members benefit by finding real estate at below-market prices. Homeowners benefit by avoiding a foreclosure process that can damage their credit, and banks benefit by disposing of non-performing assets. (complex asset transaction)”

More than twenty foreclosure and home auction services are available on the Internet alone, and every day it seems there is a new business adding to the growing platform of companies. RealtyStore is a full service provider of foreclosure listing services, including local market forecasts on markets in all 50 states in its partnership with Housing Predictor.

Housing Predictor forecasts more than 250 local housing market futures in all 50 states, including the nation’s best and worst 25 markets nationwide.

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Recently, I went through a divorce. Part of my divorce proceedings was that I had to refinance the mortgage on my house and make an equity payment to my ex-wife. The biggest pain of this process was finding the correct loan and the correct mortgage company to work with. Looking online left me with a stream of options and all of it seemed very confused. That is when I found LoanNetwork.com

LoanNetwork.com is a resource site for home-owners and home-shoppers to help them navigate the confusing world of mortgages. They have a resource area that is filled with articles and information about points, rates, and credit scores. All of the topics that consumers find confusing can be cleared up while reading at LoanNetwork.com

But the core utility at LoanNetwork.com is their mortgage comparison engine. You put in all of your information about the type of loan you are looking for and they give you a list of loans and mortgage companies that will be able to help you. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for “no money down” options or cash out refinancing, they have mortgage companies that will be able to help you.

So the next time you are home shopping or it is time to refinance your existing mortgage, you should visit LoanNetwork.com.

The housing market rocketed and then came crashing down in the majority of the U.S. due to the mortgage crisis, which first started in subprime loans and quickly spread into the conventional lending market, leaving just eight states on the Housing Predictor appreciation list.

The fallout from the national mortgage melt down is yet to be determined. It may send the U.S. economy to its worst level since the Great Depression with millions of Americans losing their homes due to unethical and illegal lending practices. The catastrophic financial frauds at Enron and World Com may have been small episodes compared to the housing crisis.

Millions of home owners just wanting to keep a roof over their families heads have been at least misled.

Housing Predictor forecasts more than 250 local housing markets in all 50 states and is regularly consulted by consumers, leading Wall Street investment bankers, real estate and mortgage companies for insighful analysis and housing market forecasts.

The mortgage crisis has spread into conventional lending markets, most of which are adjustable rate mortgages. However, strong regional economies keep eight states on the Housing Predictor list with appreciation, including Washington, which economy is clearly one of the strongest in the nation with more employees being hired at high tech leader Microsoft and airplane manufacturer Boeing than ever before.

Idaho real estate (especially Idaho Falls Real Estate) is still holding its own to remain on the top list of states in the west with booming economies. No wonder why more millionaires live in Idaho than any other state.

On the east coast North Carolina has felt less of an impact from the mortgage crisis than perhaps any other state to remain on what is now a short list of appreciating real estate states.

The majority of states housing markets have slowed to a crawl as sales dwindle in the face of what has developed to be a national crisis, raising fears of not just recession or inflation, but of disastrous economic fallout from the housing boom gone bust.

For more on the top appreciating real estate markets and to search for foreclosures visit http://www.housingpredictor.com

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