A Little Perspective on Declining Home Values

Many people are deciding to walk away from their loan obligations simply because they are upside down on the principle and owe more than it is worth; I have to ask Why, just because you can?, Just because your neighbor is doing it? Would it surprise you to know that more American are upside down on a loan with no hope of ever recovering the original value?, yet most do not care and almost all continue to pay the loan, while also paying tremendous amounts of money for maintainence, insurance, and ever-rising fuel costs, I am not talking about homes, but about automobiles. For the most part, a car's value dimishes the minute you drive it off the lot, and yet most people continue to pay for the car for the next four years! If you are not having any problems making your motgage payment, I urge you to continue to make your payments and hang on, your home's value will more than likely improve in the next upward cycle. After tomorrow, we will have elected a new President, and we will have a clearer understanding of what economic policies will be implemented. And there is already good evidence that we are at or near the bottom of this cycle. This Week's Real Estate Insight: Before you decide to walk away from your mortgage, remember that proportionally, more people have realized a larger drop in the value of their SUV's than their homes. ?