So you lost $100 grand. Who's counting?
An article in today's Strib talks about the decline in home value assessments this year. For my neighborhood, it's eye-popping--25% in our area and 44% by our first house (which we sold three years ago for $195K--think about that loss). A scan of sold homes in our neighborhood over the last two months shows only two homes sold for over $100K. Most were around $50K. I can't even fathom what foreclosures have done to the market here or how the neighborhood will be affected as a result. Who's buying all these foreclosed homes? What will be done with them?
In any case, here's a letter I sent to the Strib about their piece. One upside--our property taxes will be lower next year
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Buried deep within the recent article on dropping home values was a truly astounding number. In parts of North Minneapolis, home values have dropped by almost 50%. This is a catastrophic loss for neighborhood homeowners, many of whom already live with limited means. Why this number doesn’t deserve its own headline is beyond me.
At the same time, perhaps the fact that these price drops extend beyond the city’s poorest areas is good news. The fallout from this foreclosure crisis cannot just be dismissed as an unfortunate consequence to a limited (and relatively powerless) few. Hopefully, lenders and public officials can both create protections for those currently most affected and long-term, substantial reforms to protect against such disasters in the future.