Quantifying the Foreclosure Crisis

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-01-23 08:05:00 UTC
Topics:

The housing bubble may have burst, but the subprime crisis is far from over. Hundreds of thousands subprime mortgage borrowers are underwater and/or in default and, despite some admirable efforts to keep people in their homes, the outlook is grim. Housing prices have declined for the first time since the Great Depression and, unless swift, bold action is taken, millions of people could lose their homes.

Some may think I'm just being pessimistic. That this call for action is unwarranted, unnecessary, and asking too much of a President in his first week in the oval office.

So to drive my point home, here is the most recent data from the Center for Responsible Lending's report Continued Decay and Shaky Repairs: the State of Subprime Loans Today. If these numbers don't convince you of the immediacy of this crisis, I don't know what will:

1.5 million
Homes already lost through subprime foreclosure.

2 million
Subprime mortgage holders currently delinquent.

26 percent
Subprime loans originated during the second half of 2005 that are currently delinquent.

42 percent
Subprime loans originated during the the first half of 2007 that are currently delinquent.

$352 billion
Estimated external costs foreclosed homes on neighboring properties.

40 percent
Share of U.S. home sales in 2008 that were short sales or foreclosures.

1 in 9 households (1 in six households with mortgages)
Households projected to lose home to foreclosure during the next five years (regardless of the type of mortgage held), according to Credit Suisse.

$9-10 trillion
Estimated decline in U.S. household wealth between 2007 and 2009, according to Wachovia Economics Group.

***

I'll admit: the euphoria from Obama's inauguration has yet to wear off. But elation and optimism will not keep people in their homes. If we don't take swift action to prevent foreclosures, prevent people from losing their homes, and prevent homelessness, the long-term damages may be even greater than the predicament we're in now.

As I pointed out yesterday, regulatory action must be taken at the federal level to prevent the crisis from growing worse. Given the devastating and widespread effects, it's not too early to start harping on our new administration to move this crisis to the top of the national agenda.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Inaugural Speech Word Cloud
NEXT STORY:
Sallie Mae Blinks!

COMMENTS (19)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.