We've all heard about the foreclosure-epidemic in Miami and Las Vegas, but how has Portland been affected? Given the recent condo glut, what can condo-hunters and residents in the Pearl, Downtown or South Waterfront expect in the coming months? According to RealtyTrac, a leading provider of foreclosure information, the number of Oregon properties in foreclosure is up 200% over July 2007. Although we're still a long way off from Arizona or California, where 1 in every 200 households faces a foreclosure filing, a number of condo projects in Portland are starting to struggle. You may have heard that McCormick Pier is among them, but foreclosure filings are also making the rounds at more prestigious projects such as the Elizabeth. Read the full report and find out which condos are getting hit hardest
here.
I think the government should stay out of it and let things take its course. No one was there to bail out the thousands of manufactured homeowners when people were defaulting left and right. They, too, had gotten in over their head. For those of us who were financially responsible, when we went to sell we had to take a big financial loss leaving many no choice but bankruptcy. The government didn't care nor offered to help.
No sympathies here. Too many people bought overpriced "lifestyles" instead of going for more affordable "boring" suburban options. In many cases, their ability to purchase was also subsidized by us poor homeowning rubes who financed the property tax abatements they received on their "historic" condo buildings built between 1997-2007. To make matters worse, they used risky financing options to do it.
The local market needs a correction and bail outs will only benefit the lenders, real estate speculators, developers, and politicians that created this mess.
I don't think anyone was asking for sympathies. The only help the government should give is to prevent a complete market collapse. The bankers who created this situation via sub-prime securities should also pay the price.
I don't think it's a matter of lifestyle choice; I know plenty of people who chose the suburbs because thats the lifestyle they prefer.
There are plenty of people in the suburbs here and elsewhere in the country that are being foreclosed upon. Does that mean they should be criticized for choosing to live there? Anyone can get in over his or her head, whether urban or suburban. Its about making a smart choice on financing your home, not where you live.
FYI tax abatements apply to smaller number of units than most critics would have you believe. Many people living in the city center pay full property taxes. I know I do, I dont get any break on my taxes.
When housing values go up, homeowners enjoy the benefit. Similarly, when they go down, they should individually suffer the consequences. It's ludicrous to involve the government as a crutch for individual responsibility, especially when most homeowners in the northwest have benefitted from rising home values in the past few years.