The Crisis Of The Housing Boom

The mortgage crisis of 2007 marked catastrophe for millions of homeowners who suffered from foreclosure and short sales. Most of the problems involving the foreclosing of families’ homes could boil down to risky borrowing and lending. Lenders were pushed to ensure families would be eligible for a loan, when in previous years the same families would have been deemed too high-risk to obtain any kind of loan. With the increase in high-risk families obtaining loans, there was a huge increase in home buyers and subsequently a rapid increase in home prices. As a result, prices peaked and then began falling just as fast as they rose. Soon after families began to default on their mortgages forcing them either into foreclosure or short sales. Who was to blame for the risky lending and borrowing that caused the mortgage meltdown? Many might blame the company Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but in reality the entire system of buying and selling and free market failed home owners and the housing economy.

During the early 2000 's, the United States housing market experienced growth at an unprecedented rate, leading to historical highs in home ownership. This surge in home buying was the result of multiple illusory financial circumstances which reduced the apparent risk of both lending and receiving loans. However, in 2007, when the upward trend in home values could no longer continue and began to reverse itself, homeowners found themselves owing more than the value of their properties, a trend which lent itself to increased defaults and foreclosures, further reducing the value of homes in a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle. The 2008 crash of the near-$7-billion housing industry dragged down the entire U.S. economy, and by extension, the global economy, with it, therefore having a large part in triggering the global recession of 2008-2012.

The housing crisis of the late 2000s rocked the economy and changed the landscape of the real estate business for years to come. Decades of people purchasing houses unfordable houses and properties with lenient loans policies led to a collective housing bubble. When the banking system faltered and the economy wilted, interest rates were raised, mortgages increased, and people lost their jobs amidst the chaos. This all culminated in tens of thousands of American losing their houses to foreclosures and short sales, as they could no longer afford the mortgage payments on their homes. The United States entered a recession and homeownership no longer appeared to be a feasible goal as many questioned whether the country could continue to support a middle-class. Former home owners became renters and in some cases homeless as the American Dream was delayed with no foreseeable return. While the future of the economy looked bleak, conditions gradually improved. American citizens regained their jobs, the United States government bailed out the banking industry, and regulations were put in place to deter such events as the mortgage crash from ever taking place again. The path to homeowner ship has been forever altered, as loans in general are now more difficult to acquire and can be accompanied by a substantial down payment.

After the optimistic forecast from the realstate that the houses value were going to increase, many institutions started to make adjustments to take profit from this trend. In some cases, prime mortgages were allowed for subprime borrowers to take. This might look like a great idea to financial institutions because the house values were rising: if a people (who in the first place couldn’t afford a house) stop paying their mortgages then the bank could sell the house for a value greater than the one at the moment of default. Everything was going well, so how is it that the crisis unfolded? Well, these institutions wanted to make more profit

Real estate values further rose, luring lenders into taking more risks in their financial transactions. All this was done in the hope of raking in huge sums of dollars since the prices of the mortgages had gone up. Consequently, a large number of people, including those who would not have qualified under normal conditions, were able to secure mortgages. They soon realized that they had blundered but it was too late. Due to increased supply of homes being disposed off by lenders and other financial institutions, the demand went down sharply. There was no more money flowing in the economy as many people now stopped taking the mortgages. This could have resulted into the mortgage crisis.

EXAMINE THE FACTS. The housing market was making huge financial gains by misleading buyers into buying home that were out of their budget, lenders and originator created unconventional mortgages to people who were at high risk for default.

The following essay will thoroughly examine the severe economic downturn of 2008, formerly known as the housing bubble collapse. We will mainly focus our discussion on the effects the financial crisis had on Canada and the U.S and examine why both countries were affected differently. Although the collapse of the housing bubble is the most identifiable cause, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint one specific defining moment or event triggering the global financial collapse. There are many factors involved, due to the complex nature of the financial systems across the world, and this paper will delve in the key contributing variables that led to this financial crises.

effectively encouraged frivolous spending and heavy borrowing allowing people to live beyond their means. Low interest rates also increased the discount value of assets and therefore increased their value. This created a house price boom in the UK and US. It was in the US that this twined with high levels of borrowing created the subprime lending market, whereby individuals with poor or no credit history borrowed vast subs of money to buy

The cause was the uncontrolled number of sub-prime mortgages that were driven by historically low interest rates that flooded the market. Eventually many of these unsecure mortgages started to default due to the inability of borrowers to pay. Leading to a banking and credit crunch.( Holt J.(2009). A summary of the primary causes of the housing bubble and the resulting credit crisis: a Non-technical

The problem was everyone who qualified for a mortgage already had one. Lenders knew if they sold a mortgage to a person that defaults the lender gets the house, and houses were always increasing in value in that market, that would be a valuable asset to sell. To keep up with the demand from investors, lenders started selling mortgages to borrowers who wouldn’t have qualified before because of the risk for default. These mortgages are called sub-prime mortgages and lenders started creating tons of them. In the unregulated market, lenders employed predatory tactics to get more borrowers with attractive offers such as no money down, no credit history required, even no proof of income. People never would have qualified before were now buying large houses, and the lenders sold their mortgages to Investment bankers. The investors packed subprime mortgages in with prime mortgages so credit agencies would still give a AAA rating. The rating Agencies who had a conflict of interest by receiving payments from the investment banks, had no liability if their credit ratings were correct or not. They turned a blind eye to the risky CDOs and kept giving AAA ratings. This worked for a while and everyone was happy including the new homeowners. The housing market became hyper inflated with more homeowners than ever. Wall Street continued to sell their CDO’s which were ticking time bombs. The subprime mortgages began

This book also makes people aware of what kind of people work on Wall Street and why they could let something like this happen. Greed was one of the big motives because everyone was making money during this time. Everyone though home prices would keep rising so brokers and banks wanted more and more people to own homes. The problem was that people who could afford a home already had one and to make more loans banks had to lower their standards. A common acronym is “NINJA” which stands for no income, no jobs or assets, no problem. Banks would entice these types of borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages to book the sale. Then the banks would turn around and sell these mortgages so it was someone else’s problem. Eventually when the borrower

The real estate boom of the early 1990s (that preceded the crash) saw home prices soar, but when housing prices dropped significantly during 2007-2009buyers were unable to make enough to pay back original loans (being underwater on a loan). These loses that people faced were caused by predatory lending practices, such as interest only loans in which lenders made their profit from the buyersbefore the buyers accrued any equity.As unemployment rose, many people did not have the finances to pay for their homes which lead them to foreclosure,leaving them infinancial ruin. By the end of 2009, these people’s credit had been damaged (making it tough to obtain future loans) and they were scared to make

US economics was considered as “too big to fail” market. No one imagined that US crisis could happen, because the US market was too powerful, it had been through a lot of change to prove it’s strength. In 2003, 2004 when “Housing boom” could be heard anywhere in US, house was recognized as “American dream”. Anyone invested in housing market can make a lot of money, Lehman Brothers as well as other invest banks earned a lot. A lot of people lend money to buy houses then sell them, the price kept increasing, however like the other bubbles, housing market collapsed when the supplies overs demands: by 2004, U.S. homeownership had peaked at 70%, and the fourth biggest bank in US faced bankruptcy.

The housing market crash, which broke out in the United States in 2007, was caused by high risk subprime mortgages. The subprime mortgage crisis resulted in a sudden reduction in money and credit availability from banks and other lending institutions, which was referred to as a “credit crunch.” The “credit crunch” and its effect spread across the United States and further on to other countries across the world. The “credit crunch” caused a collapse in the housing markets, stock markets and major financial institutions across the globe.

One of the first indications of the late 2000 financial crisis that led to downward spiral known as the “Recession” was the subprime mortgages; known as the “mortgage mess”. A few years earlier the substantial boom of the housing market led to the uprising of mortgage loans. Because interest rates were low, investors took advantage of the low rates to buy homes that they could in return ‘flip’ (reselling) and homeowners bought homes that they typically wouldn’t have been able to afford. High interest rates usually keep people from borrowing money because it limits the amount available to use for an investment. But the creation of the subprime mortgage