Survey Shows Home Owners Fear Foreclosure

One out of six American homeowners are afraid they’ll have their home foreclosed, according to a new survey conducted by Housing Predictor.

The alarmingly high number of home owners, who are afraid they’ll be foreclosed comes as a result of rising mortgage defaults in light of the U.S. mortgage crisis, which has broadened into conventional mortgages from higher risk subprime loans. The survey was conducted online during the month of September.

More than one million home owners throughout the nation have already under gone foreclosure in 2007 and at least an additional two million are forecast by Housing Predictor to be foreclosed through 2009. The epidemic of foreclosures were initially because of defaults in the subprime lending market, but a growing number of conventional loans are being foreclosed as a result of higher interest rate adjustments and exotic mortgages provided by lenders who wanted to make mortgages to borrowers at any cost.

A series of lawsuits have already been filed against major national mortgage companies and subprime lenders, and attorneys representing borrowers are preparing class action lawsuits against many of the nation’s largest mortgage companies.

Mortgages, including conventional, subprime financing and second mortgages were traded on Wall Street as securities at a feverish pitch as hedge funds until investors, who required 30% profits to keep investing in the funds became leery of the practice and stopped investing in the mortgages at such a fever pitch shutting off the supply of money to invest in mortgages.

Many have likened the practice to a Ponzi scheme, where the last investor to come into the game is left holding the bag to find another investor to get their money back. A series of lawsuits have been filed against Wall Street investment bankers, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies as a result.

Housing Predictor regularly surveys visitors on real estate related issues and provides more than 250 local housing market forecasts in all 50 U.S. states.

Check your markets forecast and search for real estate listings, including foreclosures at http://www.housingpredictor.com