A blog in The Wall Street Journal declares: “Negative equity more widespread than previously thought, report says.”
And to readers of the Journal, there is a chance this “new” development is a shocker.
After all, in August 2011, the publication declared appraisers were actively lowballing values. Co-author S. Mitra Kalita, who moderated a panel at a Zillow-hosted conference in the downtime, titled the piece: “Judgment call: Appraisals weigh down home sales.”
Turns out this is, in fact, what the houses are actually probably worth, based on the fuller view the new Zillow negative equity report provides. Read HousingWire’s take on the report here.
HousingWire REthink attendees who listened to William Emmons, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, heard that the underwater situation will get even worse. He estimates a $4 trillion negative equity hole.
Turns out, perhaps the appraisers were right in the first place.
jgaffney@housingwire.com
