Subprime Mortgages by the Numbers

March 26, 2008

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A year ago, CAP looked at numbers that defined the then-nascent subprime mortgage crisis. Today, the outlook is still grim for families and the crisis has spread, affecting average communities as well as Wall Street, including financial institutions and institutional investors worldwide.

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) have introduced thoughtful legislation that incorporates proposals put forth by the Center for American Progress to save America’s family equity and to stabilize American neighborhoods. As these updated numbers show, congressional action is necessary and urgent as the crisis has worsened for average Americans in the past year—and the end isn’t yet in sight:

Homeowners Need Help

1.2 million: Number of foreclosure filings in 2006. This number is up 42 percent from 2005.

2,203,295: Number of foreclosure filings in 2007. This number is up 75 percent from 2006.

8.8 million: Number of homeowners that will have zero or negative equity by the end of March 2008. That’s about 10 percent of homeowners who will be “underwater,” or owe more on their homes than the properties are actually worth.

900,000: Households in the foreclosure process during the fourth quarter of 2007, the highest number ever recorded and up 71 percent over 2006.

The Mortgage Crisis Affects Everyone

7.4 million: Estimated number of outstanding subprime loans as of Nov. 2007.

$104 billion: Estimated loss of property value in 2007 dollars resulting from these subprime loans.

$80,000: Potential cost to stakeholders—including homeowners, loan servicers, lenders, neighbors, and local governments—of every new foreclosure.

11.4 percent: National decline in home prices in January 2008 over January 2007, as measured by Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the steepest decline in the measure’s 20-year history.

$195,900: National median home price in February 2008, a drop of 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

The End Isn’t Yet In Sight

40.5 percent: Drop in housing starts for single family homes since February 2007, the largest year-over-year drop since January 1991. Construction is a source of good-paying jobs, so declines in home construction can have broader consequences for employment.

1.8 million: Number of subprime mortgages set for an interest rate reset in 2007 and 2008.

2.2 million: Approximate number of families who may lose their homes and up to $164 billion of accumulated wealth due to foreclosure over the next few years, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

To learn more about housing proposals by the Center, please see the Housing page on our website.