Information for each state is provided below. You may access your state information by clicking your state on the map or by locating your state in the text links below.
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A summary of Second Quarter 2009 Negative Equity Data from First American CoreLogic shows that Nearly One-Third Of All Mortgages Are Underwater.
• More than 15.2 million U.S. mortgages, or 32.2 percent of all mortgaged properties, were in negative equity position as of June 30, 2009 according to newly released data from First American CoreLogic. As of June 2009, there were an additional 2.5 million mortgaged properties that were approaching negative equity. Negative equity and near negative equity mortgages combined account for nearly 38 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide.
• The aggregate property value for loans in a negative equity position was $3.4 trillion, which represents the total property value at risk of default. In California, the aggregate value of homes that are in negative equity was $969 billion, followed by Florida ($432 billion), New Jersey ($146 billion), Illinois ($146 billion) and Arizona ($140 billion). Los Angeles had over $310 billion in aggregate property value in a negative equity position, followed by New York ($183 billion), Miami ($152 billion), Washington, DC ($149 billion) and Chicago ($134 billion).
• The distribution of negative equity is heavily skewed to a small number of states as three states account for roughly half of all mortgage borrowers in a negative equity position. Nevada (66 percent) had the highest percentage with nearly two?thirds of mortgage borrowers in a negative equity position. In Arizona (51 percent) and Florida (49 percent), half of all mortgage borrowers were in a negative equity position. Michigan (48 percent) and California (42 percent) round out the top five states.
There are some interesting tables and graphs in the article that inquiring minds are investigating. Here are some partial alphabetical lists.
click on any chart in this post to see a sharper image
Negative Equity Share
Property Values and Loan-To-Equity Ratios
Nevada, not shown has a near-negative equity share of 68.9% and a Loan-To-Value ratio of a whopping 115%!
It is disingenuous to say there are only a half-dozen or so problem states, when the problem states are where people live. It is wrong to treat Alabama and Alaska the same as California or Florida.
Mortgage Facts and Figures – Select States
32-37% Of All Mortgage Holders Are Stuck, Unable To Sell
Take a look at that first line. California has $2.4 trillion in mortgages debt. 42.0% of the properties have negative equity. Think Wells Fargo (WFC) sitting on its massive share of California pay-option-arms is “Well Capitalized”? If so, think again.
Now take a look at that last line again. Nationwide there is $10.1 trillion in mortgage debt. 32.2% of the properties have negative equity, another 5.4% are nearly underwater. Counting real estate commissions of 5% or so, 37.6% are effectively underwater right now.
Unless those people bring equity to the table at closing, those mortgage holders are stuck in their houses, unable to sell.
And the situation is about to get worse. It will only take a small drop in the Case-Shiller home price index to put a whopping 50% of mortgage holders underwater, stuck in their houses, unable to sell.
Foreclosure Wave Is About To Hit
The biggest factor in foreclosures and walk-aways is whether or not someone is underwater. If someone with equity always has a chance to sell. The second biggest factor is “skin in the game”. Those who put down 20% are far less likely to abandon their properties than someone who put down 10% or less.
In light of the above, and given the preponderance of “liar loans” and low down payments in the problem states, those thinking clearly might be expecting to see a giant wave of foreclosures striking shore right about now. And they would be correct.
Mark Hanson discusses the above theory in “The Foreclosure Wave” — Now a Tsunami of Sorts.
There’s plenty of commentary in the article worth reading so please take a look. Here are some charts.
California Foreclosures
Nationwide Foreclosures
California Pent Up Foreclosure Demand
Mark notes “Foreclosure supply (yellow) has been artificially held back, which has allowed the low end of the real estate market to perform very well over the past several months. But the reservoir of foreclosures (blue + pink) is getting full and at some point the dam will crack and break.”
Six Reasons the Dam Will Break Sooner Rather Than Later
In light of the above, those expecting a rebound in home prices and consumer sales, and/or a sharp V-shaped recovery are in Fantasyland.
Source: Mike “Mish” Shedlock
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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is emerging not only as the most powerful presidential aide in the Obama administration, but one of the influential Oval Office power brokers in a generation, according to The New York Times.
The Times reported Sunday that Emanuel’s power is now so sweeping that he recently vetoed the hiring of Sidney Blumenthal by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Blumenthal had generated too much bad blood in the Obama ranks during the campaign, Emanuel bluntly told her, and could not join the administration.
The anecdote also illustrates just how far Emanuel has come: 16 years ago Secretary Clinton, then first lady, had Emanuel demoted as a senior official in Bill Clinton’s White House after he ruffled feathers with his aggressive style.
The son of former Israeli freedom fighters, Emanuel is the principal author of Mr. Obama’s do-everything-at-once strategy. His success may very much ride on how well and how quickly the administration stabilizes the economy and financial markets, overhauls the health care system and winds down one war while successfully prosecuting another.
And while he’s known as a bitter partisan fighter, even some Republicans credit Emanuel, a former House member from Illinois, with serving as a major bridge between the GOP and the Obama White House.
“I’ve heard more from Rahm in six months than I heard from Andy Card in six years, and Card’s daughter worked for me,” said former Representative Tom Davis, Republican of Virginia, referring to a chief of staff under President George W. Bush.
Emanuel now must shepherd healthcare legislation into law for the White House, a task that is growing harder by the day.
“He’s about to be tested; he’s spinning a lot of plates over there and he breaks a lot of china,” said Joel Johnson, a close friend and fellow veteran official of the Clinton White House told the Times. “They’ve had some good success early on, but they’ve got a number of major pieces of the agenda in the queue, and it’s going to be really difficult.”
The caricature of Mr. Emanuel as a profanity-spewing operative has given way to a more nuanced view: as a profanity-spewing operative with a keen understanding of how to employ power on behalf of a new president with relatively little experience in Washington, the Times reported.
“He can juggle 20 or 25 things in one day, in part by delegating and in part by picking only the things that matter,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican congressman recruited by Mr. Emanuel to serve in the cabinet, told the Times.
Where Mr. Obama is known for cool detachment, Mr. Emanuel presses until the breaking point, then presses some more. “The president has a zenlike quality,” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod. “Rahm is a pile driver.”
Source: NewsMax
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What in the world has happened to this nation? Eight years of the Bush Administration I had thought that I had seen it all. Politicians have always attempted to have their way with the common folk through verbal gymnastics, fear, ignorance and unadulterated apathy. Well this is a brand new low, an attempt to remove any dissent through harsh regulation of talk radio. Definitely not the Jim Jones cool-aid drinking kumbaya talk radio but real alternative talk.
Democrats and Republicans are two halves of a corrupt and decaying political system. Nothing that resembles real change can come from either. The gears in Washington need to come to a screeching halt in order to restore the luster of our lost republic. It is buried under a mass grave of closeted skeletons and secrets. Dissent is the only thing that keeps this country on the rails. Differing opinions and free-thinking Americans make this country great and yet the new Obama-Soros Communications Commissar will take dissenting voices off the air because might makes right in his mind.
The FCC’s Office of General Counsel according to their own website represents them in federal court as well as serving in an administrative capacity. Mark Lloyd the ‘chief diversity officer’ supports the fairness doctrine and has plans of regulating talk radio to support more ‘diversity’ and different viewpoints, this of course on the heels of the hate crime legislation and health care debate. Talk radio is a free market and those who support their local AM and FM stations should be the ones who demand content and not someone with an axe to grind under the auspices of the FCC. What is their idea of diversity? If there is a desire for a democratic media by the populace then there will be support for networks and talk radio hosts. A ground swell of support will grow organically but you have to have good content and be entertaining as well. Talk radio networks spring up all the time but instead of allowing Democrats to put their noses to the grindstone they will use the FCC as a vehicle to mandate change through force. Is that fairness?
It is plain to see that the Obama administration is in damage control after all of this strong debate on health care, bailouts and the rest. Mark Lloyd is from George Soros’s left-wing think tank Center for American Progress, this is their perfect chance to use the FCC has a weapon. A very Clinton-esque tactic if I may say so. The FCC will be revoking licenses from select stations across the nation and the only way to attempt to combat it is to get very litigious. The gloves have been taken off and the war over words has begun.
Source: BlackListed News
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Source: Peter Schiff and Digital Journal
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As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches once again it leads us to reflect on what we have achieved and what is yet to be achieved by the 9/11 Truth and Justice Campaign. One thing we all might agree on is that a more “focused” and “deliberate” media campaign is in order this anniversary.
In this last year we have received some very powerful tools to use in our battle against those who would see us fade away as a movement. The most powerful is arguably the “Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe” paper provided, peer reviewed and published by our hard working scholars internationally. While this world-changing evidence has received press in parts of Europe and Asia, it has not been reported on within the corporate media of the “Coalition of the willing”, being predominantly the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. It is important to note these countries are also the major supporters of the “War on Terror” having direct military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan to this day.
What I propose is an all out, all day attempt to get this controversial paper reported on in the press by demonstrating in front of corporate media facilities worldwide. With simply the “Thermitic Materials Paper” in one hand and Architects and Engineers DVD “9/11 Blueprint for Truth” in the other we have a completely rational and non-conspiratorial basis to demand that the press investigate the possibility of controlled demolition of the World Trade Center buildings 1, 2 and 7 on 9/11. It would also be completely reasonable for us to call out the media for its disgraceful reluctance to address the hard evidence disproving the NIST building collapse reports and their clear and biased support of the cover up of the century!
It has been obvious to me as an activist out on the “11th Day of Every Month” that the majority of the public have suspicions that 9/11 involved more than Al Qaeda and believe it highly likely that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were involved. By the constant distribution of information throughout the western world by 9/11 Truth groups including www.TruthAction.org and www.WeAreChange.org each month and the formidable work of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth and other professional groups we have effectively diminished the media’s power! So by destroying the corporate media’s news credibility with 9/11 Truth we have created an opportunity, for they are feeling a resulting loss in revenue and their own job security is at risk.
So what’s the plan…
1. Call to International Action by all the major web sites “Putting the Heat on the Media this 9/11″
2. Mobilize all 9/11 Activist networks worldwide through www.911Truth.org, www.911blogger.com, www.TruthAction.org and www.WeAreChange.org
3. Get support of leaders, scholars and web based groups for their membership’s support of this offensive and get them on the street if possible
4. Augmenting the anniversary’s actions by large e-mail volumes the days before, supported by a reminder at the above sites
5. Keep the actions simple and concise by;
- Focusing on the Thermitic Materials Paper censorship by the media and handing copies to the media at the actions
- Handing out the “9/11 Blueprint for Truth” DVD and pushing its credible and large support base of 750 architects and engineers
- Strongly representing the families’ desire for a new investigation and their frustration with the media’s inadequacies
- Reminding the media of what has been done in the name of the victims of 9/11 and how they continue to report on the official conspiracy theory as if fact without hard corroborating evidence
6. A real focus on appearance and at least the activist leaders putting on a shirt and tie to present us in the best light in case of interview.
In conclusion to this call I would like to remind you all that each time we have had a media focus on the 11th we have had success in getting attention. As a direct result we have seen Building 7 shown on TV so now let’s get the Thermitic Paper reported on. Besides, even if we do not get any direct media coverage we will get the information into the hands of the journalists, further undermining their editorial control and increasing our chances of potential news pieces.
Source: 911 Truth
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