Have you been hit by the U.S. housing crisis? Do you see evidence of the year-long credit crisis all around? Is a part of the story not being told?
We are inviting citizen photojournalists to send in their best photographs illustrating the battered housing market and on-going credit crunch. If you think your picture tells the story in an innovative way, please send it to pics@reuters.com.
The best images will accompany Reuters stories on Reuters.com.
Be sure to include your contact details and an explanation of the event you are capturing.
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!!!Capitalistic Beetles!!!!!!!! A whiny bunch, aren’t they???
- Posted by PayBackSorry guys, but to one home of capilalism from another…a few home truths. Dont’ complain about insensitivity, no-one did whent hey were making money.
Im a brit that was taught one good thing by my father when growing up. Borrow only what you NEED to, not what you WANT to. if you keep borrowing by choice, one day you’ll have to borrow and you’ll have no choice because all your income in swallowed up in repayments.
I actually COULD afford to borrow for a home and a car
I did neither because i did’nt really NEED either.
If people lived within their means and didnt borrow so much in the first place house and car prices would’nt be so high. How much is a house worth? As much as you can borrow…not how much you can afford.
- Posted by jon stanleyLet the housing market falls free! This is a chain of natural and healthy reactions from financial market to the housing market which has fake value and been pumped up too much. It is also the consumers’ boycot to this baloon housing market. It is time for the baloon explode itself.
- Posted by aida tanakaI would recommend that you hear this audio program for NPR. This is the best expanation I have heard of the current housing crisis. It was really an eye opener
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Ep isode.aspx?episode=355
- Posted by RoMoThe banks and credit card companies are at blame. In the past to buy a home you needed a credit score of 650 plus. The banks found out that people with a credit score of 550 to 650 paid their bills, but paid late. So, they jacked up the rates and fees to people with a 550 to 650 credit score. Then they had a new problem, these people had no down payment or low income. So the banks came out with no interest loans, arms and 2-28 loans so people with a credit score of 550 to 650 can buy a home. If a person cannot get a fix rate loan on his/her income, how can they pay a 2-28 loan in two years that goes up 75 to 100 percent. The truth should have told to people with 550 to 650 credit scores, you can not afford a adjustable mortgage, so you need to look at a house that cost less.
- Posted by CMGWhy are we not putting real estate agents who make high commissions, builders who make more money on bigger homes than smaller homes, loan bookers who make a commission from both the loan company and the buyer in jail. Some people need to be told the truth and we need to change the why banks, builders, loan brokers and mortgage companies do business. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO GOT HURT WERE THE PEOPLE WHO JUST WANTED A HOME, now their credit score has been hurt, they can’t even rent a house now (street people).
The credit crunch has hit more than homeowners. The IRS and student loan lenders are my biggest nightmare at the moment. Ten years on and an IRS tax issue (which started as a small amount) is still not resolved to my satisfaction and has ballooned to over three times the original debt.
I am 48 years old with about $500 built up in my social security account. If I play the game the way my creditors want I will have little retirement savings.
Because I needed education and a masters degree to obtain a professional position (these education debts are not allowed to be included in an IRS debt ratio, by the way) I am over $50,000 in debt.
I am a librarian and teacher, not a doctor or a lawyer. Where is my relief? Who can I go to when the creditors are my own government?
Who will bail out taxpayers and students once they cannot pay those bills without sacrificing retirement?
- Posted by Albert M.This housing crisis is fantastic. I have picked up 3 houses for about 20% of ther 2005 value. They are in great shape, need a little clean up and they are ready to rent for about a $600/month positive cash flow each. Another great by product of the “housing crisis” is rents are on the way up as people who should not been given loans to begin with are now forced to rent. Just like Harvard Business school teaches: supply and demand…be on the correct side of the equation.
- Posted by JR ronWhoa…back up on the greedy Real Estate Agents trying to make huge commissions! I am a Real Estate Agent, I work FOR my Buyers. Yes, there are greedy agents out there but don’t lump us all inthe same group. I pride myself on the fact that I DO educate my clients.
I do notice that there is one group of people that significantly added to this mess that is not being mentioned here…APPRAISERS!!! They are the ones that determine the value. Give them grief why don’t ya’!
Slimey mortgage brokers..they’re there too. I have learned as a Buyer’s Agent who those people are and HAVE advised my clients to stay away! There are EXCELLENT mortgage brokers in my community that have a great reputation.
Let’s not forget the Buyers as well. They should know better. Come on, so you really think that just because someone tells you that you can buy a $200,000 house and when make minimum wage, that you should??? Hold them accountable too. Some people are just not meant to be homeowners. This will help.
I do understand that bad things happen to good people. It’s horrible. Hopeful they can recover and prosper.
We will have a tough time getting out of this mess. Our “bubble” never happened. Our prices in my market have been steady and fair. But the national news about the crisis and a major manufacturing plant closure has left my community hurting. Not to mention that fact that buyers are scared to buy and the Government has taken away all of the Seller assisted down payment programs.
The only homes that are “affordable” are the foreclosures. BUT they are in such bad shape that they do not pass inspections and financing guidelines. The people that hold these foreclosures are not taking care of them. Which leads me to one more thing..SHORT SALES.
When are the lenders going to realize that they need to get their acts together and make it a little easier (and cheaper) for the Sellers to get out of these homes without foreclosures looming over their heads. Do they not realize if they just worked with everyone to get the deals done quickly that they would save millions of dollars every year?? They are being bailed out by the Government but the people(sellers) are still getting the short end of the stick.
- Posted by buyersagentThe current climate of U.S. government takeovers and guarantees of veritable institutions reminds me of William Rees-Mogg’s prescient observation that the Soviet government once visited misery on it’s own people by guaranteeing everyone againt profits, and that it’s not any better if our own system guarantees everyone against losses.
- Posted by markLet’s not forget lack of regulations for these “greedy brokers” and lumping these mortgage packages to sell to “greedy” investors. There was a time when you wanted a mortgage you went to your bank and your mortgage stayed with that bank and there is no way those banks would have allowed the kind of lending practices that have been going on these past years. Our government has a big hand in this debacle for not reigning in and regulating these people too.
- Posted by samI guess I got lucky. Bought my house south of Raleigh, NC March 2005 for 120k, sold it March 2008 for 150k. Unfortunately my profit did not take me far since I live in Europe now and the dollar has not been living up to his standards compared to the euro.
- Posted by TomThe mortgage crunch was caused by a couple of things; greedy mortgage brokers, greedy realtors, and unqualified buyers. It’s that simple. The realtors were trying to sell over-priced houses for bigger commissions, the brokers were trying to sign unqualified people, and those unqualified people were not smart enough to know what the brokers were telling them.
This does not require a genius to resolve.
—>Joe
- Posted by JoeThe capitalistic system is failing to identify true value.
- Posted by TomIt is unethical in some of its persuits.
Let housing fall, who cares. Americans have too much credit. We save nothing, spend more than we can afford. Americans need a jolt of reality. Its a good thing. Besides, if your house costs 200k vs 350k who is the overall winner? The bank silly. Well maybe the tax collector too. =]
People loose because they wanted to buy in a bubbly market. Real geniuses there. All you had to do is look at the pricing over time to see its going to pop. Basic economics please?
- Posted by MicOr if these things don’t work themselves out, in a thousand years, future humans will be clearing an area of forest and find old broken down roads, our garbage and junk, and think it is treasure. Sometimes when a society falls too far too fast, it falls to pieces. We need dreams, jobs, even if it is only chisling pictures into rocks to line an ornamental wall or building, the infrastructure needs to get people dreaming and working and happy again. The surviving cultures always employed a lot of artisans to keep people busy.
- Posted by VivianI forgot to mention:
Another benefit of falling home prices that most analysts forget, is that people will have smaller mortgages, which translates to more expendable income to spend on the economy, instead of giving back to the bank.
In a consumer driven economy, expensive homes and lots of house debt is actually a bad thing.
This will balance itself out in the end and we will be much stronger because of it.
All the politicians need to do is revamp American infrastructure and education systems so that America is once again the place to invest money for jobs.
Western Style management needs to pull their heads out of their ass too and remember that if they fire people to give themselves bigger bonuses that eventually it comes full circle as well.
These things will eventually work themselves out. They always do.
- Posted by JoePersonally, I think a lot of the doom and gloom is being pushed by election year politics and made to appear worse in order to push us one way or the other on the election or sell newspapers. Now that being said, things are hardly hunky dory but we will pull through and an important lesson will be taught to people who have learned to live above their means on cheap credit.
Guess what? You don’t need to buy tonnes of crap every day like society brain washes you to do.
Falling home prices are a good thing as millions of people have been shut out of a homes the last few years and soon you will see things come down to the point where people making less will be able to afford decent homes without taking out huge mortgages with payments to match.
In fact, your going to see a mini-boom here in another year and banks will once again be making a bunch of money hand over fist because of it.
People complain that “incomes are down”. Thats true, but stop and think about it. If you can buy a new home for 20-30% less than what it was a few years ago, then having a slightly smaller income isn’t a big deal because your going to be paying $500 less a month on a mortgage, thus it balances out.
Of course given time, the real estate market will bounce back as the US grows in population and the economics improve once more. It may take 10 or 15 years, but those who hold on will have their equity and the smart ones will have CAREFULLY (if their budget allows) made some extra money off other real estate in the mean time.
Its a cycle and people forget that.
After this current market cycle is done, there will be losers as always, but plenty of winners who didn’t follow the crowd and doom sayers and they will come out ahead.
- Posted by JoeTwo years ago we started selling our house because I had health problems and had to leave the area. Nothing moved and the prices dropped below our mortgage, which we had increased because of my health problems and needs. After the California teacher layoffs this last spring, we had to give up and are walking away. On every street, there are empty houses, abandoned. There are theives patrolling the streets at all hours, looking for opportunities, kicking in doors and taking people’s things because they can’t get decent jobs, retirement or security.
The economy is crashing because the money was taken out of the poorest segments of our society. Even the engineers in this country no longer live with a feeling of security. When I was a child, I lived on a suburban street. There was a plumber, a county employee, teachers, carpenters and doctors living within the same blocks. Doctors weren’t millionaires and almost noone lived in mansions. Now there are street people and homeless educated, and there are some very, very wealthy people. The problem is the wealthy think that anyone could make money the way they did. (and they want cheap, grateful servants.)
- Posted by VivianThat’s about a 30% reduction in value but I’m glad that it is happening. The real estate market was outrageously overpriced and now it is correcting. Real estate doesn’t only go upwards in price. Many people got greedy and now are paying the price.
Unfortunately, many first time buyers bought into the market and are now stuck. The blame should fall on the Realtors who didn’t advise their clients about the market’s risks and the mortgage loan officers who made their commissions by financing people who weren’t qualified for the loans in the first place.
This is not the fault of the Bush Administration as many Democrats would like to blame to gain some unjustified political points. If you blame the wrong party, you won’t be able to solve the problem since the remedy will be applied in the wrong direction and to the wrong party. It is the greed on the part of Realtors and loan officers that is the root of the problem. The problem has been solved belatedly since many of the Realtors and loan officers responsible have dropped out of the business.
- Posted by realmervOne only has to look at the online lists of foreclosures to see how many thousand of houses are being repossessed. Too numerous to photograph! My Los Angeles suburban house has fallen in value from around $500,000 to an estimated $355,000. And dropping steadily. Fortunately I’m not in danger, but I had rather hoped to make a little more when - or of - it ever sold.
- Posted by David Cunard