“For homeowners who need to sell, this is a gravely serious situation…It can also be harmful to communities where the number of unsold homes adds more to inventory and puts downward pressure on prices.”
-Stan Humphries, Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics, as quoted by Bloomberg.com.
A report from Zillow.com, a Web site that offers free estimates of home values, says that about one-third of homes purchased in and around Chicago in 2006 and 2007 are now financially “under water,” meaning that owners owe more on mortgages than their properties are actually worth.
An article in this morning’s Sun-Times finds a more optimistic angle from Zillow.com spokeswoman Amy Bohutinsky, but it ultimately arrives at the same conclusion for homeowners that need to sell now.
“It doesn’t do a lot of good to worry…The real estate market is cyclical.”
“Approach it as something to enjoy while you live there…I wouldn’t approach it as something to help you make more money when you sell because we don’t know how much further the market will drop. So any added value could be lost.”