National Correspondent, Newsweek
National Correspondent at Newsweek and the author of House Lust: America's Obsession with Our Homes
PROFILE
Daniel McGinn
Guest
FROM Daniel McGinn
To the Point
As Housing Crisis Worsens, More People Staying Put Sales of new and existing homes dropped more than expected last month, even though houses are cheaper, with the median price reduced from $208,000 last year at this time to $180,000 today. Daniel McGinn is national correspondent for Newsweek magazine and author of House Lust : America's Obsession with Our Homes.
To the Point
The Housing Crisis Is Eating America's Economy Home foreclosure may become an industry in itself. Today's New York Times features a California company called You Walk Away , which is looking for clients whose mortgages are now worth more than their houses, so they can't refinance to meet rising payments. For less than a thousand dollars, You Walk Away will show them how to deliver their problems back to the bank by foreclosure. Part of the problem is the idea that housing is not just a place to live, but a gold-plated investment whose value just keeps going up. What goes up must come down, leaving tens of thousands of people with increased payments on loans worth more than their houses. Are greedy banks and investors at fault? What about home buyers themselves? And what's the impact on an economy that depends on consumer spending?
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