High unemployment and the resulting lower household income rates are persistent issues impacting the U.S. real estate industry. As a result, distressed assets continue to be prevalent, and a serious concern for many real estate investors.
This article explores how higher debt and the drop in asset value affect overall household net worth value, which hinders the recovery effort. To put this into perspective, in 2001, the national loss of household net worth was $2.5 trillion, between 2007 and 2008, this number jumped to $15.45 trillion. Leading economist and president of StratInfo, Manuel Lasaga, along with Matt Phillips, vice president of real estate services for FirstService Residential Realty and Bill Worrall, corporate vice president of FirstService subsidiary, The Continental Group, share their unique perspectives in this compelling article, and provide insight into ongoing debate on the “sell” versus “hold until market conditions improve” debate.
—Read more at National Mortgage News / Mortgage Servicing News