Home Values Lost $1.4 Trillion during 4Q 2008

Americans lost more, in terms of home values, during the final quarter of 2008 than in all of 2007. According to Zillow Real Estate Markets Report, home values fell 11.6 percent or $1.4 trillion during the eighth consecutive quarter of declines. The declines mean that U.S. homeowners lost a cumulative $3.3 trillion in home values during 2008. During all of 2007, home values lost only $1.7 trillion. Since the peak of the housing market in 2006, home values have declined by $6.1 trillion. As home values have declined, more American homeowners have found themselves underwater on their mortgages. One out of every six homeowners had negative equity by the end of 2008, up from the one in seven in the third quarter. Further, foreclosures made up nearly one in five or 19.9 percent of all transact