Comments about ‘Utah 4th in foreclosure rate in 1st quarter’

No surprise here. Look at the outrageous cost of home ownership here in the valley. $125,000 for a 30 year old 3BR 2BA? I don't think so.

There are houses sitting vacant all over the place, and they will continue to sit until prices come down to a level that people can afford.

Let's get real here. After this recession the average American has less than $3000 in savings... a third of us have nothing at all. Yet the banks want $10,000 as a down payment. Where are we supposed to get that from?

I'd love to own a home... but I'm not about to overpay for something and throw my money away then be stuck there forever b/c the value will continue to fall.

That's the trap my parents are in back home. They bought a $350,000 lake house in 2006 and now they want to retire but can't b/c they have too much debt and will actually lose money if they sell the house.

Yeah, the joys of home ownership in modern America.

Utah's ranking is not all due to the current economic problems. Utahans have also been very high (sometimes the highest) over the last many many years in personal Bankruptcy filings. Spending more than one can afford to spend and living beyond ones means is the problem.

It is because of Chase Bank. They make you think you are qualifying for modification loan and then they turn you down and then it's to far gone. my house is still empty and I wanted to keep it. Sad.

I asked my sister why she and her husband would buy a house for $300,000 when her husband only makes $40,000 per year. No she told me he makes $50,000. Huh I asked, you told me $40,000. She told me that her husband was offered overtime at his work and with that he was now making $50,000.

Overtime I blurted out, you don't buy a house based on overtime pay. Overtime can stop at any time. House payments last for 30 years.

Needless to say they lost the house.

If my sister and her husband are any indication, I will say that Utah has more than its share of people who are short on critical thinking. Also it is too full of people who want granite countertops, fancy cars, too big of houses.

This isn't what the LDS church teaches, but somehow this is what too many of the members absorb (from who knows where).

@DeltaFoxtrot

"No surprise here. Look at the outrageous cost of home ownership here in the valley. $125,000 for a 30 year old 3BR 2BA? I don't think so."

If you can find a 30 year old 3BR 2BA in a decent neighborhood - BUY IT! That is a steal!

Tha joys of home ownership with $0 down - thanks VA!

I get a kick out of those who believe Utah is in such great economic shape.
Well, in the Beehive State, the wealthy Beekeepers are certainly enjoying their increased buying power while the lowly Bees can't earn enough to keep up with their house payments.
Fasten your seatbelts - it's gonna get rougher.

@CHS 85, I never said it was in a decent neighborhood, or that the house itself was in very good shape.

I moved here from NC and was totally blown away by the cost of housing. We were looking at a 40 year old 3BR fixer upper back home right before my transfer and it was going to cost about 60,000. In NC $125,000 buys a brand new small 1-story 3BR "crackerbox" house in a suburb where everything looks the same. Not a run down dump in a neighborhood behind an industrial complex.

It's ridiculous when I can rent a nice 2BR apartment in a clean quiet community in Cottonwood for $650/mo.

Why such high foreclosure rates in Utah? Isn't everyone a fiscal conservative republican? I guess people want the government to spend less, but Utahns want to spend more to keep up with the Jones'.

Look at the cars parked at LDS church building to go along with there $350,000 mortgage on a $70,000 income with 4 kids. I don;t think so.

Case in point...about 1.5 years ago, I bought a new house in Daybreak (South Jordan) for $368,000. I just sold it as a short sale last month for $247,500 when I had to relocate. The drop in value is something that I could never overcome even if I stayed in the house for 30 years. It's amazing how quickly it dropped. I suspect there are thousands of other people in the same situation in Utah.

Here's what blows me away....

Utah...predominatly LDS....is #4 for forclosures?

That means they default and "walk" away from the debt they incured!

Isn't that just like stealing???

Maybe the leaders of the LDS church should bring that out more strongly...say maybe in a conference talk or something. Just think...the LDS state is # 4 in stealing in the nation when it comes to foreclosures...MIND BOGGLING!!!

"Look at the outrageous cost of home ownership here in the valley. $125,000 for a 30 year old 3BR 2BA? I don't think so."

Wait... you're saying that's expensive? Being from Maryland this actually amuses me because 125k for that is very cheap back east.

$CHS 85 | 3:31 p.m. April 14, 2011

I think DeltaFoxtrot has a better sense of valuation. Our sense of valuation has been way off for years. Maybe $125,000 is cheap. Or maybe our houses are so outrageously overvalued that we cannot comprehend a fair value anymore.

@silas brill

Have you ever priced a home in the New York City area, the San Francisco or Seattle areas? I've lived all over the US and Utah's home prices are not bad for the desirability of the area.

Trust me, Salt Lake isn't as cheap as San Antonio, but compared to other desirable cities, Salt Lake is VERY affordable for housing. I am moving to Honolulu in a few months and am having a hard time finding something similar to my home in Sandy that I can afford. It looks like I'll be renting for a while first. Even then, I'm looking at $2K per month for 3BR 2BA.

we, too, could have bought a 175,000 house 4 years ago for 379,000. nobody had to tell me how stupid THAT was. now i am bidding on a 3 year ago 359,000 house at an auction. someone will get that house from 82,00 to 102,000. it just depends who want to incur some 'gotta have it' emotional investment.
i will try 85,000 with no mortgage.....just cash. beats the stock market.
not all dispossessed home owners are victims here. this was greed driven all the way around. everyone though they had a Constitution-guarranteed right to apprecite 25% per year. they aren't victims.....just stupid.
i still live(d) in an OLD mobile for about 7 years while i waited it out.

Re: Kami | 2:32 p.m. April 14, 2011
"Spending more than one can afford to spend and living beyond ones means is the problem."

BINGO!!! You've hit the nail squarely on the head. When it comes to the national budget (and national debt) why can't Obama understand that concept?

Sounds like some members aren't living within their means like they are told by their leaders. The 'image' of wealth is more important than financial stability to people here.

'When it comes to the national budget (and national debt) why can't Obama understand that concept?' - Rifleman | 6:07 a.m.

Perhaps because Americans have let every other leader for the past 60 years add to the national debt with no recrimination?

Oh, sorry. I forgot how George W. Bush factually DOUBLING the national debt...

and Regan factually TRIPLING the national debt...

dosen't 'count' because they were such great 'financial conservatives.

The national debt is not 'Obama's fault.'

But continue the 'Blame Obama' game, as we have a factual example, right here, of people who claim to be 'conservative' with their money.

'Utah 4th in foreclosure rate in 1st quarter'

- Title

Houses are overvalued, period.

The median price of a house sold in the US in 1971 was $25,000. The median household income was $9000. So a house cost roughly 3 years wages.

The median price of a house sold in the US in 2009, nearly 40 years later, was $215,000. Median household income was $46,000. So a house cost roughly 5 years wages.

All data from the US Census.

Right there... that is the heart of the problem. Houses haven't significantly changed in 40 years. Certainly not enough to justify a 66% increase in cost.

Look at food prices, look at clothing prices, look at prices of cars, they've all done the same thing.

Taking cost of living into account, the average middle class family makes less money now than they have at any point in the last several decades.

Our government, owned by the rich and big business, has declared war on the middle class. Costs are rising and income is shrinking. They want to put us all in the poor house. The sooner America wakes up and takes action against them, the better off we'll be.

I agree with the comments about Utah people overspending on houses and cars (and other things.)

One of the things that really interests me is that a generation ago people raised 5 kids in 3 bedrooms. Today it seems we are wanting to raise 3 kids in 5 bedrooms. Our expectations of what a house should be, and what it should be for, have changed.

Of course, we should always consider that almost EVERYONE used to think that a house was a no-lose investment. The realtor who sold us our current house (we have been here for almost 25 years) has called us every other year asking us if we wanted to "trade up." The idea was that you can't lose to put more and more of your income into a house. That was clearly good for realtors, but not so good for those who viewed a house as an investment and not as a dwelling place.

My sympathy goes out to those who lost a lot of money on their home. I lost a lot of 401K in the stock market crashes of 2000 and recently. Seems you can't win.

Don't worry, everyone. We're still #1 in MLM's and fraud!