More than half of PG mortgages underwater, rest of the area improving. (Columbia: low income, fit in)

[EdwardA]

Ouch. It's like a sea of red in PG. They should speed up the foreclosure process in PG. Get some new blood in here and owners with equity.

Delinquent mortgages in Washington Area - The Washington Post

The housing market appeared to start a recovery in 2012: Home prices were up, and so were sales. But among the lingering reminders of the housing crisis were the 14 million homeowners who still owed significantly more on their mortgage than their homes were worth. It will take years, economists agree, for many of these homeowners to regain positive equity. In the Washington area, about 321,000 mortgages, or 28.5 percent of borrowers, were underwater. Those homeowners were clustered in the parts of the region hit hardest by the downturn, including many parts of Maryland. For example, more than half the mortgages in Prince George’s County were underwater in the third quarter of 2012. The picture was rosier in Montgomery and Fairfax counties, where 21 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively, were underwater during the third quarter, according to Zillow. The good news: “The underwater situation will steadily decline,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. Read the article.

[Zimar]

Doesn't a mortgage being underwater just mean that you owe more than what the house is worth? The owners are not necessarily in foreclosure. In the area we bought a home, we're buying our house for 320k, and the neighbor bought her home at the height of the bubble for 650k. She has a good job though, and she's not planning on doing anything other than continue to pay her mortgage.

[justtitans]

And this goes back to a thread that we posted up a few months ago, is this a matter of residents in PG being targeted or just people who are making bad financial decisions. If you look at real estate as an investment, then PG is quite a financial risk. There isn't a lot to hang your hat on besides hope that things will improve. I'm one of those individuals who brought into the idea that things would improve, but the economy combined with tons of foreclosures has driven property value down quite a bit since I brought. As you said EdwardA, the best PG can do is find a way to streamline the foreclosure process and continue to educate people. Unfortunately just because you make a lot of money doesn't mean know what to do with it, and that I believe is the issue with most of the county.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by Zimar

Doesn't a mortgage being underwater just mean that you owe more than what the house is worth? The owners are not necessarily in foreclosure. In the area we bought a home, we're buying our house for 320k, and the neighbor bought her home at the height of the bubble for 650k. She has a good job though, and she's not planning on doing anything other than continue to pay her mortgage.

His point is, houses sitting on the market for a long time and not being sold brings down value. It would be more beneficial to move those units as quick as possible to help increase value so that the market will correct itself.

[KLynch10]

Originally Posted by Zimar

Doesn't a mortgage being underwater just mean that you owe more than what the house is worth? The owners are not necessarily in foreclosure. In the area we bought a home, we're buying our house for 320k, and the neighbor bought her home at the height of the bubble for 650k. She has a good job though, and she's not planning on doing anything other than continue to pay her mortgage.

But unfortunately there will still be years more of foreclosures and short sales which will be terrible for property values.

[stpickrell]

We need to find some way to unload this inventory so that the banks AND borrowers are given a slap (or two) on the wrist.

However, society is done the most good if the two are not tied to this underwater mortgage like a millstone around both their necks.

[NOVA Girl]

So how come there are so many more underwater mortgages in Prince George's County than in Montgomery, Howard or other nearby counties? It's the same state, the same foreclosure laws. It doesn't seem like we can blame the state's slow foreclosure process for the slow housing recovery in Prince George's county.

[adelphi_sky]

It would be interesting to find out how many underwater mortgages are less then 5 years old. I do believe PG was targeted to some degree based on the perceived incomes of the residents. We can agree that we know people who like to make appearances and spend more than they can afford. I would argue for my opinion that PG county experienced the perfect storm of the recession. A lot of factors came together and exposed the weaknesses of the county. I would also argue that though the chart speaks some truth about the weakness in the county real estate market, the prices are a bit too low. I would tell anyone looking for a house that in PG county homes are undervalued. Let's be honest, the banks are still holding the cards. And those same appraisal firms that over-valued the homes in 2006 are still in control now. And it is widely known that Zillow's estimates can have up to a 30% margin of error for property values. So we could be talking about a bunch of people being less than 10% under water. They now suggest you get at least two appraisals to be sure. One from the bank and one from a third party. One who hopefully does business with another bank.

So what does this all mean? Mortgage companies and banks still have the power to make winners and losers. They have the power to shape affluent areas and low income areas. We see this in how banks left foreclosed homes in minority neighborhoods in shambles and disarray but maintained homes in more affluent neighborhoods. This became real to me when I went to NC for Christmas and my Father-In-Law was talking about how the neighborhood had to badger the bank to maintain a foreclosed home. The bank only did so when threatened with a lawsuit. It's almost like covert redlining through foreclosure and property values. They always find a way. It will be years before the housing market recovers. But also, it will be years, if ever, that trust in the banking and mortgage industry ever returns.

It's all a game and only the smart investor property owner can see through all the BS. In my opinion, you can't beat the property values they have now in this county if you're looking for a home.

[No_Allegiance]

The answer as to why Prince George's county property values have been slower to recover than MoCo, HoCo and AA Co lies far beyond what most people are even comfortable discussing. Other questions that will arrive at the true answer would involve lack of corporate business presence, lack of quality retail and restaurants, lack of incoming traffic during the morning rush, etc.

The answer is it's who wants to live their. That's not a question. The majority demographic in Prince George's county is not the target for most businesses (and no, the demographic group I refer to is not based on income as a large percentage of county residents do very well). The answer is who wants to live in MoCo, HoCo and AA Co. The answer to that is the same demographic groups who already live there. To business interests, there's little else to discuss.

Jurisdictions that look the "right way" are doing better because businesses and offerings go there. Though Prince George's county has the highest single-county share of Federal employees, the county also has the lowest share of Federal office space. Commuting outside the county for work means few if any contractors or consultants need office space to be near their counterparts, little restaurant and retail is needed to serve lunch and happy hour clientele, and commutes are longer to get to work or return home. As a result, Prince George's county is a less disirable place for many to call home.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by No_Allegiance

The answer as to why Prince George's county property values have been slower to recover than MoCo, HoCo and AA Co lies far beyond what most people are even comfortable discussing. Other questions that will arrive at the true answer would involve lack of corporate business presence, lack of quality retail and restaurants, lack of incoming traffic during the morning rush, etc.

The answer is it's who wants to live their. That's not a question. The majority demographic in Prince George's county is not the target for most businesses (and no, the demographic group I refer to is not based on income as a large percentage of county residents do very well). The answer is who wants to live in MoCo, HoCo and AA Co. The answer to that is the same demographic groups who already live there. To business interests, there's little else to discuss.

Jurisdictions that look the "right way" are doing better because businesses and offerings go there. Though Prince George's county has the highest single-county share of Federal employees, the county also has the lowest share of Federal office space. Commuting outside the county for work means few if any contractors or consultants need office space to be near their counterparts, little restaurant and retail is needed to serve lunch and happy hour clientele, and commutes are longer to get to work or return home. As a result, Prince George's county is a less disirable place for many to call home.

I would agree with you except that theory doesn't fit in regards to Columbia Heights, Petworth, U Street, SE near the Nationals Park, and now H Street. 10 to 15 years ago even I wouldn't have chosen those places to live. Those areas were undesirable and didn't look the "right way" even to some affluent minorities. And for those of us who have lived here all our lives, we all know about the crime in those DC neighborhoods and the schools were so bad they have all but disappeared giving way to charter schools. Yes, people that you would think would choose MoCo, HoCo, and AA Co are choosing the inner-city. And the single reason for that is that most of these new transplants are auto-adverse. They prefer public transportation which is abundant in DC. Second, they more-than-likely work in DC. So, their commute is not terribly long. PG is a sleepy suburb. The areas around metro stations will grow. Other areas will probably stagnate due to the new more towards various modes of transportation. That's why I believe the school situation is not as big a deal-breaker as some believe. If those that choose areas that look right i.e. white, then are choosing Georgia Avenue, U Street, 14th Street, and H Street, then I would imagine they would choose parts of PG as well.