Current Housing Market Meltdown Only the First of Many Foreclosure Crises

With all of the bad economic news coming out every day, and the continuing collapse of housing prices and record foreclosure numbers, it often seems like the situation just can not get any worse. Unfortunately, the numbers being reported now about the number of foreclosures compared to a year ago quite underestimate the problem, as foreclosures take months to wind their way through the legal system.

This means that the high foreclosure rates have not yet begun to reflect what is happening in the real estate markets right now, as the numbers only represent how many homeowners defaulted on their mortgages nearly half a year ago or more. In some states with redemption periods after a foreclosure auction, homeowners who are currently falling behind may not be counted in the economic numbers for more than a year or two, depending on how far behind courts and banks are in pursuing foreclosure lawsuits against defaulting homeowners.

All of the current and coming economic collapse may very well indicate the end of the concept of "growth" as a measurement of the health of a nation or its people. Even as it has become more and more difficult to grow out of one problem or another, banks, investment firms, and government have all worked together to keep up an illusion of constant growth. But in order to keep up the illusion, corruption and deception have been relied upon to cook the books and manipulate the numbers.

Various tricks have been used for years to create an illusion of economic growth, when the reality of the situation is simply that more people are working longer hours for more of their lives and never getting ahead. Elderly couples who receive too little from Social Security and retirement accounts to pay their bills have to work, which means economic growth. People who eat out everyday contribute more to economic growth than families who make their own meals. Computers get faster, so the higher processing numbers count as economic growth even though the difference may be negligible. Such delusions of progress at the expense of personal satisfaction can be found in nearly all of the official accounting of growth.

Both political parties have benefited from the subprime mortgage fiasco and both presidential candidates have ties to the mortgage companies that have ensured the impoverishment and homelessness of many of their victims. And no matter who wins the White House, this corruption can be expected to continue as long as the propaganda of infinite economic growth remains firmly entrenched in the public mind. As the economy grows, so too will government regulations and control, which usually restricts the freedom of individuals while rewarding the corruption of politically-connected lobbying groups.

As the country goes into a deeper recession than has been experienced in decades, with June 2008 being the worst June month for the stock market since 1930, homeowners may wish to look to their own families and communities for foreclosure assistance. Even if local banks are able to remain open and avoid falling victim to the financial manipulations of the large money center banks, there may be little credit available for borrowers in the coming years. Local solutions will keep some communities together and in good health, while the subprime crisis turns less well-connected areas of the country into ghost towns.