while i feel sorry for the homeowners who have lost their houses
through foreclosures.....i think they themselves have contributed a
large part to the sad state of affairs. nobody asks them to buy
houses that they might not be able to afford in the event of job
losses/ill health etc.
and nobody seemed to be complaining when interest rates were
low, home buyers were enjoying zero downpayment for home
purchases or qualifying for large amount of loans or deferred loan
payments...or them having spent wayyy too much money
on upgradings, 2nd homes, taking out equity
loans etc.???
banks aren't expected to give out money for free right? it's
easy to blame the financial institutions/system/govt....but these
people should learn to reflect on their own actions too!
it takes 2 hands to clap
"so far, i'm quite disappointed with the level of service from
the financial and real estate fellas over here in the states.
perhaps they still think of us asians as poor fellas from some
third world countries??! "....... LOL.... you're going into PHASE
ONE of "culture shock syndrom".
There there now honey.. be careful what you wished for.....
Asians are the ones getting their asses kicked
by foreclosures..click this
link ...
ASIANS in the United States, many of them living in
foreclosure-ravaged California, suffered the sharpest drop in home
ownership last year, eclipsing declines felt by whites, blacks and
Hispanics, according to new census data.
The decline is surprising, because Asian-Americans tend to earn
more than other minority groups and have less debt.
But one out of three Asian-American home owners lives in
California, which has seen foreclosure rates skyrocket and home
values plummet since the housing bubble burst. And that appears to
have disproportionately exposed them to the effects of the housing
collapse, experts suggested.
US home ownership rate fell to 66.6 per cent last year, the
lowest in six years, after hitting a peak of 67.3 per cent in 2006,
according to figures from the American Community Survey, released
by the US Census Bureau.
Home ownership for Asians fell 1.24 percentage points last year
to 59.4 per cent.
The revelation surprised some experts such as Professor Edward
Wolff, an economist at New York University.
'Based on their income and relatively low debt, one would expect
that they would have a smaller decline in home ownership,' Prof
Wolff said.
The median annual household income for Asian Americans was just
over US$70,000 (S$98,000) last year, higher than any other racial
group.
'It's possible that it's a regional effect,' Prof Wolff
suggested.
'There's a high concentration of Asian-Americans in California,
and California got particularly hard hit by property (price)
declines and high foreclosure rates.'
The drop in home ownership is a reversal after the housing boom
years, when minorities in the US took advantage of easy access to
financing and became home owners. -- AP