Quote from TM_Direct:
You have a valid point...but you leave out a BIG key to this..
A guy buys a home for 175k in 1998...in 2004, he takes out 150k in equity to buy a great investment peice on the other side of town...he then takes out 50k to 'consolidate' his debt.....now in 2007, the ARMs are raised dramatically on the 200k he took out so he has to sell...in order to make what he wants he lists it at 400k last fall....but thousands of other homes are out there as well...so he waits...and waits...and all the while, the value is going down and the banks raise the ARMs and he can't afford the payment....so he drastically reduces the price ..and waits..and waits .....ya get the picture? forclosures are sky rocketing for a reason.