Feds Ponder Rescue Plans as Housing Slump Worsens

More than 10% of homeowners are 'upside down' on mortgages
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2008 12:05 PM CST
Feds Ponder Rescue Plans as Housing Slump Worsens
Graphic will show recent foreclosure and lender statistics; 2c x 5 inches; 96.3 mm x 127 mm   (Associated Press)

With one in 10 US homeowners owing more on their homes than they’re worth, the highest proportion of negative-equity loans since the Depression, the government is weighing plans that would apply the brakes to the rapidly accelerating housing market collapse, the New York Times reports. Possibilities include federal loan guarantees and spending billions refinancing at-risk mortgages.

Bank of America says the credit crunch will lead to “an unprecedented number” of home foreclosures and proposes a massive federal swap of delinquent mortgages for fixed-rate loans. Home prices slipped 6% last year, and experts say they could fall 25% more by 2009, reports Time. The real worry, one economist said, is that “banks will eventually run out of capital.” (More housing crisis stories.)

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