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The Subprime Mortgage Crisis in Technicolor

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  • code, on 04/22/2008, -11/+14pretty dope lookin' image...the unemployment of southern california is crazy, too
    • h4k0r, on 04/22/2008, -1/+5Yeah, its official....CA is running out of jobs in the Southern to Central region. Migrate East!!!
      • pjkli, on 04/22/2008, -1/+8Stay where your at. It's hard enough to get jobs in the east.
        • Chompy, on 04/22/2008, -0/+5Learning how to use proper punctuation and spelling might aid you in your search for a job.
      • weeeezzll, on 04/22/2008, -1/+6Dey tuk ar jerbs!!!
        • p0s3r, on 04/22/2008, -2/+7Yes. They did. 50% of LA's workforce are immigrants. An untold amount of those are illegals.
          Look what happened in Oklahoma after they cracked down on illegal immigration:
          "Oklahoma's unemployment rate, which was a seasonally adjusted 4.3% and 4.4%, respectively, in September and October 2007 (4.1% and 4.2% unadjusted), has fallen to a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in both February and March of this year (3.5% and 3.2% unadjusted)."
          http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2008/04/22 ...
          and
          http://kotv.com/news/topstory/?id=126903
    • Paranoidmarvin, on 04/22/2008, -1/+2Don't be fooled by the choropleth map...
    • UnkelJethro, on 04/22/2008, -3/+1Maybe they can't get a job because they continue to talk like Vanilla Ice rejects.

      Which, y'know, is pretty dope.
    • OwdenBowden, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1Best part about this is - come July I will be purchasing my house for penny's on the dollar.
      • heypetray, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Roni Deutch will solve your case for pennies on the dollar...
      • ayeroxor, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1"come July I will be purchasing my house for penny's on the dollar."

        I bet that's got to piss off home sellers. Some grade-school dropout who doesn't even know how to spell "pennies" will be buying your house at your loss.
  • KingGorilla, on 04/22/2008, -22/+212That's a terrible way of showing data
    • bstew22, on 04/22/2008, -11/+14why?
      • Merendino, on 04/22/2008, -4/+29because its all form and no function. You can't tell where half those counties are. Ohio is in there somewhere, but I don't know the shape of all those counties. It looks pretty but is horrible at conveying the corresponding data.
        • bstew22, on 04/22/2008, -5/+7hrrmmm, yeah looking at it again that makes sense.
        • crash331, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4It's not even in the shape of the counties. All of the counties where I live (NW GA) are square or rectangular, yet all of the data is almost free-form.
          • LacY, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Yeah, I thought the same--there's no way that's the shape of Fulton County (Atlanta), and I don't think it's the shape of the city boundary of Atlanta either.
        • Nougat, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2Took me four minutes to figure out where Chicago was, and that's just because I know what Cook and the collar counties look like on a map. And yet, I can't figure out quite where the percentages for the Chicago metro area are by comparison to anything else.
      • chiefbttlwshr, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Not to mention the color scale is not shown accurately.
        Houston 5.6% in dark brown, Phoenix 8.8% dark brown, Charleston 6.7 beige.
        This is just wrong.
        • weeeezzll, on 04/22/2008, -2/+3The color and the percentages that are on the maps are not suppose to correlate. The height and the percentages correlate. The color stands alone, the color stands alone, Hi-ho,The derry-o, the color stands alone!
          • chiefbttlwshr, on 04/25/2008, -0/+1Dug for the flashback to childhood.
            The bear went over the mountain.
        • andyduncan, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2Weeeezzll's right, the color and height are showing different things. Don't feel bad, your confusion is just more evidence that this graphic is flawed.
      • Nightspark, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2And the perspective further complicates things. Great Falls' 5.3% appears taller than Houston's 5.6% (~40px vs. ~20px). I usually like the NYT's graphics, but this is lousy.
      • andyduncan, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Also: Using three dimensions to illustrate a one-dimensional set of data has the effect of artificially exaggerating the differences between the data because your eye sees the volume of the resulting container, not the number itself. Since they're using the shape of the counties, it looks like the situation is far worse in the physically larger Riverside than in the Sacramento, despite the fact that both meaningful metrics are worse in Sacramento.
    • halobender, on 04/22/2008, -4/+18Looks nice but also overly dramatic. They are too high for their relative value.
      • espek, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2He's right.
        • Merendino, on 04/22/2008, -4/+2well it could be a girl, but you took the safe bet considering his/her handle is Halobender.
        • halobender, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2I am right. dammit!
          I mean where would 100 percent be?
        • Sinai, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4When showing data, you only need to include the maxima and minima, it would be useless to include room for a 100 percent data point when none such exists.
      • Sinai, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Shrug, it could be a logarithmic scale.
      • weeeezzll, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3The height and percent represents different data than the color.

        Back in grade school we learned all about Graphs and reading the legends. With this grade school learning I was able to determin that the colors refer to the subprimes as a percent of all mortgages. The height (and percent numbers) refer to the percent of subprimes that are in foreclosure.

        In Atlanta for example 15%-18% of all mortgages are subprimes, and of those 9.1% are in foreclosure. So 9.1% of ~16.5% of homes in Atlanta are in foreclosure.
    • cykyc, on 04/22/2008, -1/+20Totally agree with KingGorilla. The height is basically relative to the nearest columns versus any column on the screen, since there's no reference between all the heights. (Try comparing heights between the East and West coast, for example.) The columns are a 3-D perspective, which only makes it look interesting but does not offer anything to the figure. Also, it misleads the following: 20% of mortgages @ subprime with 25% of those sub-prime mortgages in default or 10% of mortgages @ subprime with 50% of those sub-prime mortgages in default. In both cases, if you had 10,000 mortgages in all, 500 sub-prime mortgages would be in default. You can't "see" that in that graph. Read Edward Tufte...
      • muckemuck, on 04/22/2008, -1/+2Tufte would have popped a vein over this graph.. it's totally unusable. It's pretty though! ;)
        • weeeezzll, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1It was not meant to provide a complete set of data, it was only meant to give you a general idea of what the over all senario looks like. You can clearly for example that 15%-18% of all home mortgages in the Atlanta metro area are subprimes, and that 9.1% of them are in foreclosure. That means that subprime foreclosures make up ~1.5% of all home mortgages in the Atlanta metro area. It really not that difficult to figure out. Obviously it doesn't show all of the data for all of the cities, but again, it wasn't meant to...
    • petemcfraser, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1I was totally expecting this as a pastagram.
    • Intamin, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Yeah, but it sure looks cool!
  • killbert24, on 04/22/2008, -7/+4New Mexico is the place to be!
  • Hananda, on 04/22/2008, -9/+35Don't buy housing in cities, got it.
    • toner, on 04/22/2008, -2/+10From the article: “Suburban areas near those cities are already seeing prices plunge.”
      Better to avoid the suburbs than the city centers.
      • BESTenemy, on 04/22/2008, -1/+2The gas is never going to get cheaper either, so with the end of cheap transportation will come the total destruction of suburbia.
        • aukxsona, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2Nice repeat the lines we heard a million times, ever heard of a bike? It friggin works with out *gasp* GAS!
    • r00fus, on 04/22/2008, -1/+7I just heard an NPR thang about how foreclosures are highest in areas with LONG COMMUTES (ie, suburban, ex-urban) from job centers.
      So if you want to buy housing buy where the commute to big employment centers is quick and/or easy (ie mass transit link).
      • greenhornet, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3So let me get this straight. Suburban areas that have fewer places to find work have higher foreclosures? And here I thought those NPR people were only good for background / speeing music.
    • WocCixelsyd, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Actually, if you can afford it, wouldn't now actually be a good time to buy a home cause the prices are going down?
      • Hananda, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1Well, if you're going to sit there and think about it, sure.
  • h4k0r, on 04/22/2008, -5/+11Merced, CA is one of the Highest.....that place is a huge crap whole between Fresno and Modesto.....If I was going to be upside down in a home, I would have at least made it somewhere tolerable.
    • mykalimba, on 04/22/2008, -0/+9"crap whole"?
    • imnojezus, on 04/22/2008, -1/+6Yeah, you know... as opposed to a crap part.
    • samsonthesaxman, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1come now, any college town can't be THAT bad, can it?

      *except Humboldt
      • Shnoopz, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Puhlease, I have lived all over and Humboldt was the best place for good people(near zero ghetto-ness), clean air/zero traffic jams, outdoor activities, gorgeous land, reasonably priced homes, lower than average crime, ocean... etc...

        And no I dont live there nor is it my hometown so Im not just blindly defending it... Ive lived in 4 different parts of Cali as well as out of state.
      • trizzlelv, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2The best weed in the world is from Humbolt County.
        • Shnoopz, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1This is very true... so I hear... :-D
        • willrs, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1the best weed is mexi shwag
          50 cents a gram can't be wrong.
    • Buppers, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1It is a horrible town, but some of us have to live there.. (UC Merced)
      I
    • smartmlp, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1I have been to merced and I don't understand whats so bad about it, I thought it was great rural place.
    • ventivent, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0What does that make Fresno and Modesto?
  • cmuwriter, on 04/22/2008, -12/+5Michigan is getting ***** in the *****. I'm glad I rent and own my car.
    • o0joshua0o, on 04/22/2008, -4/+8If you own your car, why are you renting it? Are you operating your own private rental car business?
      • cmuwriter, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4I rent an apartment, I own my car.
    • chris4404, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Well I'm glad Central has such a fine writing program.
    • greenhornet, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6Michigan IS an *****. Who wants to live in a state that's frozen 10 months out of the year. I've been to Detroit. It scared the hell out of me.
      • hammburglar, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1cherish every moment you spend outside of detroit you lucky son of a bitch.
      • koicho, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Global warming?
  • wbeavis, on 04/22/2008, -8/+0I feel jaded. I was never offered nor was ever qualified for a sub-prime loan. Instead I get ass high rates. Although I did feel the effects when my ARM shot up (ARM was all I could get). Would be well over 15% at this point had I not refinanced. "this is the max, but it would never possibly get that high" they said.
    • crash331, on 04/22/2008, -2/+7High-ass rates is what a sub-prime loan is. Credit card with 27% interest? Subprime! And they wonder why people just stop paying them when the interest is so high. It's the lender's own damn fault if you ask me.
    • roodammy44, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3"this is the max, but it would never possibly get that high" = mis-selling
      You can sue them for that.

      Sub-prime just means the chances of getting paid back. From what you said it sounds like your loan in sub-prime
    • YouFail, on 04/22/2008, -0/+7Nobody is offered a sub-prime loan. The term sub-prime just means that the loan has a higher risk of default either because the borrower has bad credit or unverifiable credit(i.e. self employed) or the loan has underwriting terms and conditions that are not in line with strict lending practices.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1.
  • coffee200am, on 04/22/2008, -7/+36Why would anyone want to live in Detroit or Cleveland?
    • espek, on 04/22/2008, -4/+9The heart of rock and roll?
    • momsshizzle, on 04/22/2008, -6/+6To be a gangsta!
    • slapded, on 04/22/2008, -1/+21its fun to sleep with one eye open
    • nycmac247, on 04/22/2008, -4/+2favourite imam is there
    • rficwizard, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Some areas around Cleveland are very nice. It is just parts of the city itself that look like war zones (or did ten years ago, when I lived there).
    • p0s3r, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4Maybe they like the sound of the call to prayer 5x a day.
    • hexydes, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3Hah, that's a trick question, sir! The answer is, of course, 42.
    • Albo23, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Detroit is pretty bad but it's nice in the suburbs. Though foreclosure is hitting us hard. People think they can move away from the lower suburbs to higher ones but then they lose their job. :/
    • vonfook, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1They don't, that's why their populai are fleeing
    • Hangly, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4Detroit is so post-apocalyptic.
  • SteelChicken, on 04/22/2008, -5/+45all this lending ***** was designed to help people buy way overpriced homes they'd have no realistic chance of ever being able to afford.
    • p0s3r, on 04/22/2008, -0/+9It's even worse. It was designed as some ***** affirmative action applied to loans. Some people in Washington felt that home buyers weren't diverse enough so they changed the rules to make it "more fair".

      http://www.nypost.com/seven/02052008/postopinion/o ...

      • Y0tsuya, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4After getting their wish, the same ACORN idiots were protesting outside Countrywide when their deadbeat borrowers can't pay.
      • BradHAWK, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2Funny how the institutions doing worst are the ones known for high risk practices.
    • listrophy, on 04/22/2008, -0/+7Some institutions are responsible. My credit union, for example, has had 1 foreclosure in its history... and they've been around for 75 years.
      • aukxsona, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Wow that is awesome. Our local bank has a list of foreclosures, several pages long. Consequently, I no longer bank there.
    • greenhornet, on 04/22/2008, -1/+16So Mr Jones it says here that you are a school teacher and you make 900,000 / year. Do you have any documentation to support that? No? OK then we'll just put down "stated income." Here's your house.
  • wcarolyn, on 04/22/2008, -4/+24That is not technicolor. Perhaps he used shades of reds used in technicolor, but that's not enough to call that picture technicolor.
  • GoingPostal, on 04/22/2008, -9/+109I resent the fact that Congress wants to bail out these people that made the choice to get a sub prime mortgage. I make my mortgage payment without the help of anyone. I did my homework and didn't get a interest only or an ARM. I am tired of the tax payers having to bail out people and companies that make bad choices.
    • staeiou, on 04/22/2008, -1/+32Congress isn't bailing out people who can't afford their sub prime mortgage. They are bailing out the banks and loan agencies who are losing money because people are defaulting on their loans.
      • zaren, on 04/22/2008, -1/+18Which they shouldn't be doing. Did the government step in to help me when I made some bad decisions while dabbling in the stock market? No. I paid my money, I took my chances, I got burned. I learned not to do that again. These banks and loan agencies should NOT get a free pass or a bailout for doing exactly the same thing I did. It'll screw the economy up, but it has to happen. We can recover; we've done it before when things went too far out of whack.
        • fokov, on 04/22/2008, -0/+9I agree, but these people own the government. We the people need to get together and create a planned takeover in congress by either infiltrating other parties and then controlling their goals, or the hard way by starting a new party. I put my vote to infiltrating an existing party since there are so many systems in place to hold back new parties in the "freest" country.
          • rockefeller2, on 04/22/2008, -0/+7The population is so politically stagnant, this will never happen. First focus on peeling everyone away from American Idol, then you can start strategizing a takeover in congress.
      • NonLeftistDiggr, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4There's a lot of pretty scary talk about bailing out the people too.
        • Y0tsuya, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4Watch for talks about "freezing" teaser interest rates and lowered principal. When that happens, I'm going to take out a 1% teaser ARM and demand they freeze my rates & reduce my principal or else I'll default. Why be responsible with a 30yr fixed when the gubbermint can cut you a sweetheart deal?
        • citizen782, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Many banks are already freezing rates under loan modification programs. It's better than the loss they take under foreclosure. And as much as many would like to see "irresponsible" borrows pay a price, it's better for the economy as a whole if they continue these modification programs or the homes of "responsible" borrowers will continue to depreciate in value as foreclosures continue around them. Only a vindictive attitude dictates otherwise.
          • NonLeftistDiggr, on 04/25/2008, -1/+1Not if you end up with a bunch of people who will make the same mistake again because they have an inappropriate safety net.
      • Azselendor, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3The bank shouldn't get help for trusting people they knew wouldn't be able to pay. There's a thing called Due Diligence, the banks are supposed to do it, and they didn't.
      • citizen782, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Ya, nationalizing the risk while privatizing the profits from tax payer dollars is a great idea.
    • dwigley21, on 04/22/2008, -2/+5I was going to say the same thing. Dont be a retard go 15/20/30 year fixed stick to the 30% of income formula and as long as you keep working you don't get foreclosed on. Now we have to bail everyone out.
      • rficwizard, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting an ARM. If you look at the maximum rate that the ARM can go to, and you can afford that rate, an ARM *may* be the right choice for you. If, for instance, there is a good chance you won't still be in the house in 7 years, a 7 year ARM may be ideal for you. You should make sure you will be able to make the payments if you are still there, though.
    • mykalimba, on 04/22/2008, -9/+7That's the American way. If you're not doing something stupid while expecting the government to bail you out, you're doing it wrong.
      • drmangrum, on 04/22/2008, -4/+12Actually, no, that's not the American way. Bailouts are the socialist way. The American Way is expect people to live with the decisions they make.
        • nycmac247, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3" that's not the American way"
          LOL how old are you, in your 20s?

          ONE example
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_cris ...
          • drmangrum, on 04/22/2008, -0/+5I'm 30 if you must know.

            One example doesn't prove anything. There are many, myself included, who don't agree with what happened in the S&L scandals. Besides, we're arguing semantics here. The American Way is a philosphy, it's how things SHOULD be done. The philosophy DOES work when the government gets out of the way. Unfortunately, our politicians are just as, if not more so, corrupt than the business leaders that cause these scandals.
        • NonLeftistDiggr, on 04/22/2008, -1/+6sorry dude, being self sufficient is going out of style.
          • aukxsona, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Since when does style matter? On DIGG of all things.
      • NonLeftistDiggr, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4You are pretty much right nowadays. How far we have fallen.
    • zaren, on 04/22/2008, -6/+42Hear hear! We did our homework before buying our house, understood all the options, and took the best deal that we could afford. One bank tried to talk us into a loan that was $50k over what we knew we could afford, and we just walked away from them. When the opportunity presented itself, we actually re-financed to a lower rate. We're going on nine years now in this house, and we haven't missed a single payment. This is even when I was out of work for a year and we were living on unemployment and savings.

      It sucks that we're in this position, but they have to fail. If these banks and home owners don't learn from their mistakes, they'll keep making them, and things will only get worse.
      • SloeMoe, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3So should Bear Sterns have been allowed to fail?
        • zaren, on 04/22/2008, -3/+11Yes.

          They put themselves into that situation, knowing full well what the consequences would have been had they failed They should have been permitted to suffer. Since they didn't, now every other greedy bank or loan body will expect the same (illegal) bailout, and our gov't will go deeper and deeper into debt.
          • c2kris, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4I partly agree with your view. Imagine a bank run or many if Bear sterns was allowed to fail.
            Now, that's a chain reaction and we can't possible imagine how much damage it could've done to the economy.

            I guess this is the main reason, Fed Reserve bailed out Bear Sterns
          • Y0tsuya, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6De-leveraging is painful, but must be done. The Fed isn't helping things along when they bailed out BS or when they opened a new window for investment banks. Our financial system is a house of cards. Sometimes it's better to let the whole thing collapse and start afresh.
      • citizen782, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Wow. What a pretentious and grossly uninformed comment. While you preach the gospel of personal financial responsibility by patting yourself on the back it is very clear you've never taken anything past a remedial economics class. Or you were asleep. Let's all spew about how long we've gone without missing a payment. That'll fix it.
    • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -9/+6It's only like 20% the home owner's fault. The bank does APPROVALS. You must get APPROVED. You go to a loan expert and they should be telling you what is best in their expert opinion.
      • rficwizard, on 04/22/2008, -1/+8When you buy a car do you let the salesman decide what is best for you? When they offer financing and extended warranty, do you take it? Caveat emptor, always.
        • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6No that's a car salesman, I guess these people went to Mortgage salesman, do you see the difference. Banks should not be doing this. People do not understand money, even the congress doesn't. That's why when someone tells you they are a "mortgage specialist" you expect help. If what he says sounds reasonable or he convinces you, that is PREDATORY. You should be informed but sometimes these things require experts. The fed encouraged this at the top level with irresponsibly low rates. The whole market is artificially inflated. To blame this on the middle class is extremely foolish, especially at a time when the middle class pays for a war, inflation, welfare, corporate welfare, taxes, etc, etc ,etc. We need free markets again, the manipulation destroys everything. It's like the rumble of an earthquake offshore and a tidal wave comes in and destroys everything and everyone says , "that damn wave destroyed everything", never even thinking about the cause.
          • Y0tsuya, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3I'm pretty sure they taught me how to calculate a mortgage in high school as part of the algebra curriculum. If people don't understand money, it's their own fault they didn't pay attention in school. You also can't lay the blame entirely on sub-prime mortgages. There was a housing bubble which changed the way Americans view housing from a roof over their heads to an investment and ATM. They collectively bid up the housing prices and deprived entry-level buyers of affordable housing. Sub-prime mortgage market expanded to fill that gap. But entry-level buyers also had an option to sit and wait for the inevitable housing bust. They should have exercised that option instead of chasing the bubble.
          • kingmanic, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1@Y0tsuya: They changed the curriculum. It simply was too hard for little dubya. No child left behind right!
          • aukxsona, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2What school did you go to? No they didn't.
          • citizen782, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1"they taught me how to calculate a mortgage in high school"
            Not mine.
          • rficwizard, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2@aukxsona and citizen782: I think you have hit on the root of the problem. For some people, monetary and economic terms are like a foreign language, because they have never been exposed to them. It is not a matter of stupidity or laziness. It is just being unprepared by (government) schools to deal with monetary or economic concepts. I get deer-in-the-headlights looks from people when I talk about adjusting for inflation, or the present value of money, or supply and demand. We as a people need to know this stuff.
    • rickygw, on 04/22/2008, -7/+4then ronpaul2008.com
    • flyindutchman, on 04/22/2008, -4/+5As much as I loath bailing out these people, it would be VERY bad for you and I if they all lost their homes.
      • nbcaffeine, on 04/22/2008, -3/+6Why? Then they could rent my apartment. Sounds good to me!
      • lotsa1s, on 04/22/2008, -1/+0Yes, and it would be very GOOD for the collective human genome if those insufferable retards froze to death on the streets.
    • Trichomonas, on 04/22/2008, -4/+4The Federal Reserve has to bail out the banks even if the banks made poor decisions. If they don't, people lose faith in the banking system (which is the least of the worries) and the economy as a whole suffers. It's a lot easier to bail out the banks, arrange/facilitate a take-over or something like that.
    • twertyto, on 04/22/2008, -4/+4Agreed as well! You've paid your mortgage on time for years while people around you are jumping ship and what reward do you get for your good behavior...a plummetting value for your home.
    • PolishLogic, on 04/22/2008, -1/+5If they lose their home to a bank repo, the bank will attempt to sell it for the amount that is outstanding, and usually not a penny more. So if your neighbor only owes another $100k on his $350k home and it's resold as a bank repo, guess what happens to the value of your home. It goes down. Now imagine that happening 4 or 5 times within a 5 block radius of your home. Say so long to your home's value.

      Bush's plan was essentially the lesser of two evils. Bail out or let the market dictate. Bailing out costs more in the short-run, but the effect is much less in the long-run than just letting the real estate market go into a full-fledged collapse. Basically the difference between a recession and a total economic free-fall.
    • formergthing, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Congress isn't bailing out a bunch of stupid home-buyers. Congress is attempting to bail out *America* from the problems they have caused. Letting them all foreclose is worse for our economy than dumping some money on them - even though they end up getting a free ride.
    • kaelyiesta, on 04/23/2008, -2/+3So here I am, living frugally... saving over 60% of my income, eating basic meals(never from restaurants), buying clothing from thrift stores, busing and walking everywhere and what do I get for my hard work? Nothing. It seems as if hard work is no longer an incentive in the 'land of the free'. Someone else will always take care of you in this land of 'independent hard working individuals'.

      Makes me want to puke.

      • citizen782, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Frugal or cheap? It's a matter of perception. Although saving 60% of what you earn (if that's true) tends to sway towards the latter. You must be a great date.
  • knoxchris, on 04/22/2008, -10/+14Californians need to learn what a house is worth; especially when they come up here to Jackson County (Oregon) and buy. GO BACK TO CALI and take a driving lessons while your down there!

    • o0joshua0o, on 04/22/2008, -6/+7A huge number of drivers in California are illegal immigrants who have never taken a driving test and don't have any insurance. That's why their driving is so bad.
      • knoxchris, on 04/22/2008, -5/+7From my experience, the Caucasian Californians that make it up here are the worst. I wouldn't limit it to just illegal immigrants.
        • OffPiste, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2Especially the ones who drive any VW make. They are without a doubt, the worst drivers in the US.
          • Y0tsuya, on 04/22/2008, -1/+5After being tailgated on my way to work today by an Asian women in a Toyota Camry going 90mph, I provide anecdotal evidence to the contrary.
          • kingvik, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Iowan's already hold that title.
      • NonLeftistDiggr, on 04/22/2008, -3/+3oregon guy banging on cali..... LOL. For every californian that buys a house up in OR for 50% of the california price there are 20 that would live there if Oregon paid them to.

        I've been to Oregon. You all thing driving slow as hell and not being allowed to pump your own gas is the same as good driving.
        • knoxchris, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3That made no sense.
        • OffPiste, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Obviously nonleftistdiggr is a product of the Californian K-12 education system.
      • samsonthesaxman, on 04/22/2008, -3/+1What, we like to talk and text on cell phones while driving, what is it about that the rest of the world doesn't understand?
    • Hangly, on 04/22/2008, -1/+6There should be a law to prevent Californians from leaving California, period.

      Maybe a fence, too.
      • ExSlashdotter, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2While we're at this, can we keep the New Yorkers out of S. Florida too? That'd be great, thanks.
    • 2ndEdition, on 04/22/2008, -3/+2***** cali
    • Celeron, on 04/23/2008, -2/+2What does Oregon, and those mid-western states have that are beneficial? Nothing. California is a the greatest state in the U.S. It pulls in more money than most of the states combined. If California succeeded from the union, you guys would be hurting.
      • CosmicSombrero, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2Yeah, but I imagine cali would be hurting if we didn't send them our hydro.
      • SatansSpatula, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Succeeded?

        California succeeds all the time. It hasn't seceded, though.
    • SatansSpatula, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2Oh the irony. I'm from Oregon, fled to California, and I *hate* getting close to the border. Oregon drivers are selfish and borderline retarded (to others, a turn signal means "close the gap, quick!" rather than, "coming over, if you don't mind"). And Oregon freeways? Two lanes of assholes driving the exact same speed, until you get all the way up to Eugene. Then it's more two-lane-hell until the Salem - Portland corridor.
  • crash331, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3That map on the bottom left shows that the NE and W coast are declining while the SE and Midwest are climbing in respect to the amount of houses being built. Interesting.
    • KyleGoetz, on 04/22/2008, -0/+5Well duh. It's kind of hard to build more houses when there's no more land (west coast and east coast). However, the third coast, and midwest have a ton of wide open space.
  • momsshizzle, on 04/22/2008, -7/+40Good for those people who thought they could buy a $600,000 house even though they couldn't afford it in the first place. There should be no government help on this!
    • slapded, on 04/22/2008, -1/+107 bedroom 4 1/2 baths FTW
      • BOFH2, on 04/22/2008, -1/+8with 3 people living there! Awesome waste of space and energy
        • longbow486, on 04/22/2008, -0/+5were else am i going to put all my server racks, and piles of ripped porn dvds
      • momsshizzle, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6The houses in our area, Northern Virginia, usually have several families living in them with about 6 or so cars out front.
        • aukxsona, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3My house has 7 people...and it was classified as a shed until recently. (NOT LYING)
    • edgedmurasame, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2Your case only holds for cases of speculative buying.
    • Astroseksy, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2In San Francisco, that will get you a shack with 2 light bulbs.
  • andejp12, on 04/22/2008, -3/+13Am I the only one that thinks this graphic is horrible from a point of view of getting actual data from it? There's no need for the 3/4 3-D look. Just stick with the 2D and if you need to use 2 graphs but damn give me a break with unreadable charts.
    • Sinai, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1As an overview of the nation, it works fine.
  • Brutis, on 04/22/2008, -14/+18Looks like the red states are smarter
    • knoxchris, on 04/22/2008, -9/+3Except for the red states in the bible belt.
    • slapded, on 04/22/2008, -8/+4yeah smarter for living in the middle of nowhere.
    • dicknuts, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1It's just that nobody wants to live there.
      • aukxsona, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1LIES! I moved here in 2003. I paid in cash.
  • BufordT, on 04/22/2008, -2/+7Looks like Montana and North Dakota will fare pretty well.
    • hexydes, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3Yes, those 14 people are sitting pretty right now! ;)

      I kid, I kid, but seriously...not a lot of people living in Montana...
  • EvilBadger, on 04/22/2008, -6/+7Yes everyone, leave California, it is going to collapse from all the foreclosed homes and fall into the sea.

    And congrats to my hometown of Lodi for making it on the map. /pat on back
  • bobobobo, on 04/22/2008, -8/+6Am I the only thinking "dude, do you know how to use the word 'technicolor' -- either literally or figuratively?" Can we stop using words we don't know, like our president?

    • greenhornet, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Go back and read your own literary work before you cast your stone *****. Learn to form a sentence completely and correctly.
    • hexydes, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3The best part was when you made a needless political jab in an otherwise relevant comment. I was hoping I could find a way to bury your comment, and that suited just fine.
  • presidentjapan, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3Yay for Fort Myers! Wait, is this a bad thing?
  • diggstown, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4Is speculation really a significant portion of the subprime problem? Doesn't seem like that quite fits the bill here.
    • xedd, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4Speculation fits the bill for what happened in southern Florida. Maybe southern California.
      What is surprising is the situation of Detroit, and northern places like that. But the text says that can be explained by another factor: unemployment.
      • diggstown, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3But was that subprime? It seems to me that someone with a decent amount of cash to be putting speculatively into the real estate market probably has decent credit.
    • edgedmurasame, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2For cases outside the Rust Belt, yes.
    • Hangly, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2If you buy something with the assumption that it will increase in value, that's speculation.
  • YodaJones, on 04/22/2008, -3/+20Go California, the poster child of instant gratification. Paybacks are a bitch.
  • Prototek, on 04/22/2008, -5/+17We need to build a wall across northern California to prevent them from coming north and stealing our jobs.
  • illegalcortex, on 04/22/2008, -1/+6Is this graphic even right? It says "Color shows subprime mortgages as a percentage of all mortgages" with 15 red. But it shows Miami at 11.7% and red, while Naples, FL is at 19.3% and is still tan.

    Looks like their legend doesn't match how the actual data is charted.
    • illegalcortex, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6Ah, I see. The label is supposed to be the height % number, not the color % number. Very confusing.
    • knoxchris, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1Good catch, maybe they did it to contrast those two being next to the highest, For Myers at 24%.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 04/22/2008, -0/+8This chart is all sorts of fail.
    • fac3less, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3The graphic is right, it's just a tad confusing. The color shows a percentage of all mortgages -- e.g. Naples had less subprime mortgages..
  • DeFex, on 04/22/2008, -6/+7I guess Frank Fappa was right. California has the most flakes.
    • NonLeftistDiggr, on 04/22/2008, -3/+2Pretty much, that's why our legislature is full of children and retards.
  • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -4/+13Thank the Federal reserve for all of this. They set the rates too high or too low, which causes the booms and busts. They also inflate the money supply to make money out of the air and raise the prices of everything while stealing from people's savings. Inflation is the most evil and sneaky tax there is. Abolish the fed, central planning is anti American and the Fed is partially a privately owned entity.
    • KyleGoetz, on 04/22/2008, -4/+5The fault lies squarely with those who thought they could afford houses that they could not, and with banks who didn't care whether they could or not.
      • rficwizard, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3And with regulations that strongly encouraged banks to make loans to people who couldn't afford them, in order to avoid the appearance of discrimination.
      • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2They have an approval process. You go in and they decide whether or not you can afford it. You do not approve yourself. Plus you are ignoring all of the other loans out there which are also in trouble. The fed encouraged the lending, which drove the malinvestment, while making millions for many people on the way up and down. Now the ultra rich can buy whole companies for pennies on the dollar. And anyone who thinks this wasn't planned is foolish. They knew exactly what was going on.
    • greenhornet, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2You have no idea how the United States economy works silentboom. I'm not even going to try to burst your bubble. Just go ahead and stay mad at the Fed for printing too much money.
      • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2I suggest that you have no idea how it works. Low rates encourage lending, high rates encourage savings. Read some Austrian economics. If you think the Fed is even close to innocent you are grossly misled. They thought they could run the engine on overload until they secured the oil, wrong. The middle east is a disaster and the bet failed.
        • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3The value of US currency was largely tied to oil since most countries purchased oil in dollars. It had an accepted value and a certain strength because of it's acceptance. Iraq wanted to sell in Euros and we attacked them in 2000. Now Iran is accepting many currencies and we will no longer have the monopoly on oil being tied to the dollar. It will have to find a new value. Have you checked the news? India just stopped accepting dollars at tourist sites, the Euro is at an all time high against the dollar, Chinese store owners have stopped accepting it and we are trillions in debt. Enjoy the crash and call me wrong.
  • kurfu, on 04/22/2008, -2/+5Go Houston!
    Lower than average unemployment,
    higher than average new housing build rate,
    and lower than average foreclosure.
    • tjolson, on 04/22/2008, -0/+5And higher than avg humidity and hurricanes
    • kelt65, on 04/22/2008, -3/+5it's also the ugliest most yuppified city in the US, next to Atlanta. I ***** HATE texas.
      • PhildoVT, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3atlanta and houston the most yuppified cities in the US? not even close.

        you've clearly never left the south
    • ventivent, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0I lived in Houston for a year before moving to California. Housing is dirt cheap, but there's absolutely nothing to do there. You can drive for two hours in any direction and still be nowhere. When you have a combination of rich people living in a boring place with no zoning, you get McMansions, gas guzzling SUVs, and strip malls. Yuck.
  • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 04/22/2008, -0/+11Watch out for secondary effects. People who can afford to upgrade to a better house are now unable to sell their current house because appraisals have dropped through the floor and banks are not authorizing loans.
    • n8r0n, on 04/22/2008, -1/+2Actually I just put my home on the market two weeks ago, it has already sold. We are upgrading to a bigger home (400 sq ft bigger) and I am paying less for it than what I just sold my current home for, the one we are purchasing is a foreclosure. The market in San Antonio is still decent.
    • ssn697, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2I upgraded to a better house last summer. I added on 800 sq. feet ;-)

      We haven't been hit by the housing market problems up here. I hve no plans to sell anyway, but Montana (at least my area) is doing very well so far...
    • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2In South Carolina, the demand for new homes is still high, but the demand for existing homes has become non-existant. Lots of For Sale signs going up and staying up for months. After a while some have given up and changed them to For Rent signs.
    • exbm2, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I'm not the bread winner. so, I won't be buying a house for some time.. my grandma just bought 3 foreclosure's recently.. I live in California.. Don't think everyone is hurting because of this sub prime loss..
  • insanebrain, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3. . and it will be getting worse. . .the ARM rates are about to reset.. .. brace yourselfs. .
  • NonLeftistDiggr, on 04/22/2008, -4/+2Should say, graph of locations with the most fiscally irresponsible people. I'm in CA, and as an future homebuyer, I win.... although as a citizen I lose, because irresponsible people elect irresponsible state representatives.
  • designer, on 04/22/2008, -5/+3Congress can be blamed for this by forcing banks to lend to people who could not pay back their loans.
    • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Congress had little say in the matter as they do not have much control over the fed or the Bush administration. The Bush administration wanted the inflation to pay for the war and the fed kept encouraging wall street and big lenders. Congress was mostly lost as they spent time questioning baseball players about steroids. There are only a few good Congressman left. The women have bought the terror hook line and sinker so they're lost.
  • mrzack, on 04/22/2008, -0/+8I only see 48 states. Where is Hawaii and Alasska? Conspiracy theorists were right, they were yelling mortgage crisis 4 years ago.
    • dpazar2, on 04/22/2008, -0/+8This was seen by many people years ago...not a conspiracy but just ***** practices.
    • Hangly, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3Conspiracy theorists are usually right. They're the people paying attention.
  • MrFurious2k, on 04/22/2008, -3/+11I have a hard time understanding why I'm being asked to pay for someone else's poor fiscal management. If they get bailed out, I'm so going for a $450,000 home I can't possibly afford. Maybe then I can get someone else to pay for my house.
    • silentboom, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3You pay the inflation and the bailout. You pay the fuel cost also when it takes a wheelbarrow full of dollars to buy a barrel of oil. Either they didn't realize this would destroy the middle class, or they made a decision to do so. I'll leave that up to you to decide. It's highly suspect though when all these attempts to subvert our sovereignty abound and the most resistant would be the middle class. The president was just in New Orleans meeting with Canada and Mexico's leaders and several big business interests, some say it's about forming the North American Union which is being renamed. That's all conspiracy though.
  • ubiquityxx, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3tufte would have a field day with this graphic.
  • BarHopTheWorld, on 04/22/2008, -1/+2Definitely proud to be from Seattle. Just another reason Cascadia should declare independence. Above average construction boom, below average unemployment rate... at the same time we've reduced the per capita fuel usage to 1966 levels.
  • time2go, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3The US is looking a lot like "Tree Man".
  • TommyBoy919, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2What a terrible chart. Good time to be in Southeast PA though. Low unemployment rate and minimal fallout from the housing crisis.
  • gellfex, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2The thing to remember about the "bailout" is that no one who can't possibly pay a reasonable mortage on a house will keep it. The problem was that so many of these subprime loans were made and sold at high profit because they were going to balloon to ridiculously high rates. That meant high profit for the buyers of the notes, but an unpayable mortgage for the owner. If they can get refinanced at a reasonable market rate, even though they are high risk, a large number of them might be able to keep the payments up. This is the point of the intervention.

    That said, I found the graphic bad when I saw it in the paper, and I have only bought property at fixed rates.
  • lcm133, on 04/22/2008, -3/+1I'm glad nobody lives in those white spaces in between the peaks.
  • Osmanthus, on 04/22/2008, -3/+3The roots of rebellion are in that picture. Thought it may not be what you think. My state isn't even on the map. If we're not part of America, which is hammered in to us every day in print and on TV, what am I doing paying Tribute to the federal government?
  • YummyCupcakes, on 04/22/2008, -5/+0Let's see...
    Kansas:
    http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?c ...
    Los Angeles, CA:
    http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?c ...

    ***** it. I still wouldn't live in Kansas.

    "Know why they call it the Heartland? It's because the brain isn't there".
  • b0rg, on 04/22/2008, -2/+1I guess the good news here is that (a) everybody from TX has such ***** credit, that the bankers here were a little skeptical of applicants with $60,000 household income, and two $50,000 cars on 72-month loans, and (b) the lack of planned development means your house can never be worth more than what it would cost to build a replacement.
  • emcea, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1The NY Times has some of the best information graphics in the world. Unfortunately, this is not their best example. It looks very pretty but it's looks outweigh the information conveyed.
  • gurellia53, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1haha. in the middle of Illinois is a tall one in the shape of Peoria county. Gotta love this effed up city.
  • Rizmaster, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1Now is the time to be buying these homes.
  • bluenash, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1look it all the condos in Florida.
    • carl689, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2In Cape Coral/Ft.Myers at least, those are all houses
      • ExSlashdotter, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Agreed. Its like every 3rd house is for sale here in Sarasota.
  • llama5492, on 04/22/2008, -2/+1THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!
  • schneid4323, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Lol I cant wait to see that graph in 5 years, then in 10. These mortgages are like cones, and with the shape of the economy being the opposite the likely hood of people to be able to afford bigger home payments on lower budgets is very slim.

    Dont worry we can fix it with another securities....
  • clickhere123, on 04/28/2008, -0/+0 Need mortgage foreclosure help www.homeretentionusa.com
  • jab9990, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1"Subprime" is the propaganda word of the decade. Keep drinkin' that kool-aid people.
  •  

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