Foreclosure Ripples: Where Home Prices will Drop Most: A Report

The cost of foreclosed properties hits entire communities. The average home (near a foreclosed property) will lose about $5,000 in value, according to a new study from the Center for Responsible Lending .

American families NOT facing foreclosure will see the value of their homes decline by an estimated $265 billion because of the ripple effect 2.2 million foreclosures would have in diminishing prices of surrounding homes.

A city can lose up to nearly $20,000 a year in lost property taxes and other costs for every property abandoned by foreclosure.

--Center for Responsible Lending

Here’s their state list, which is ranked on the estimated dollar value of home price declines. You can go to the Center’s website and click on: by State & Local Market.

Here's a quick summary from the report.

"Subprime Spillover: Foreclosures Cost Neighbors

• 44.5 million neighboring homes will experience devaluation because of subprime foreclosures that take place nearby.

• Homeowners living near foreclosed properties will see their property values decrease $5,000 on average.

Foreclosure Effect

..................... # Homes devalued...........Drop in House Values/Tax

California.........................8,396,887..............................$67.6 billion

New York........................3,945,030.............................$40.7 billion

Florida ............................4,318,020..............................$23.5 billion

Illinois..............................2,871,480..............................$17.5 billion

New Jersey.....................1,883,257..............................$11.9 billion

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Repaying Mortgages to Pay for School & Other WSJ Links I liked

Here'a rundown of stories that caught my eye today in the Wall Street Journal.

I liked this story: when to repay your mortgage from writer Terri Cullen, who goes through the nuts and bolts of her family's plan to pay off their mortgage early in order to finance her young son's college education.

She does a great job of walking the reader through an important financial and personal situation, with real numbers and heart.

Gerry and I will be that much closer to paying off our 20-year fixed-rate mortgage, a process we're hastening by making additional principal payments of $195 a month. (Why the odd figure? I'll get to that later; the short story is that it is part of $395 a month in spare cash we debated over where to invest. ) Our goal is to have the loan paid off before our seven-year-old son Gerald enters college in 2017, leaving us with income available to meet any potential shortfall in our college savings. --WSJ

Want hot custom-made clothes for less? Go to Asia! That's the word from this piece called "Jetrosexual" about tailor-made bargains in China and Hong Kong. It's a cute piece and a fun read.

Business travelers have long frequented tailors in Hong Kong for conservative attire like suits and French-cuff shirts. But as a new crowd of young jet-setters flocks to Asia's growing tourism hubs, like Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City, they're discovering their own tailoring bargains. Carrying pictures ripped from fashion magazines and originals bought at home, they're requesting customized knockoffs of everything from Marc Jacobs cords to "Project Runway" dresses -- and treating Asia's tailor shops as a personalized version of H&M, the Swedish discount chain that has made high-fashion designs accessible to the masses. -WSJ

I also enjoyed the weekly Tastings column. This week, the libations menu includes finding (relatively) affordable, mixed cases of wine. Great info with links to online wine vendors.

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