Illinois loses more millennial taxpayers and dependents to other states than any state except New York; this means Illinois’ distressed housing market is losing a big contingent of first-time homebuyers.
Illinois had the nation’s third-highest share of seriously underwater properties as of March 2017, according to a May 2017 report by RealtyTrac. Millennials could be the key to propping up home values: Robust homebuying forces property values up, and millennials were the largest group of homebuyers for each of the past four years, according to NBC News. Unfortunately, Illinois’ millennials are leaving instead of putting down roots.
A home is underwater when the homeowner owes more to the mortgage lender than the home is worth at current prices. If a home is seriously underwater, the homeowner owes at least 25 percent more on the mortgage than the current value of her home. Any money she’s invested in her home in the form of a down payment and mortgage payments is effectively lost if she goes to sell. She will not get any of that money back unless home values rise.
No homeowner wants her home to sink beneath the surface. However, an underwater or seriously underwater homeowner won’t really feel the pain unless she wants or needs to sell her property. Then she faces dim prospects:
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 16, 2017.
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