about the fact that Fort Meyers' homeowners have been among the hardest hit by the real estate crisis. These people include people who sold or took out a second mortgage on their homes in New Jersey, bought a retirement home in the Fort Meyers area and have, over recent months, watched as the value of their homes spiraled downward.
President Obama visited Fort Meyers a few months ago. Wall Street was bailed out, but ordinary Americans, as we all know, have not been bailed out, and they are hurting. It's time for the Obama administration to start doing something about the huge losses that ordinary middle class people have suffered. When I say "huge," I am not referring to the numbers of dollars that any one family has lost, but at what portion of that person's, especially that person's savings and net worth the losses represent.
Here are the stories.
Oct. 13, 2009
Home price numbers have ended their free-fall, but a lot housing experts are still concerned about a possible double-dip.
Integrated Asset Services, which tracks troubled properties, says its House Price Index fell .2% in August. It’s the second down month in a row for the index, which saw a 2.8% rise in this year’s first quarter.
The slowdown, however slight, is ominous, says Dave McCarthy, president and CEO of Integrated Asset Services. That’s because there’s a “shadow inventory” of foreclosed properties that remain unlisted and unsold that could throw a monkey wrench in the housing recovery. “We know there’s a sizable inventory of bank-owned homes out there that will be listed at some point, and that could ignite a new wave of stress in the housing market,” McCarthy says.
According to Integrated, several of the nation’s hardest-hit areas may already be feeling the strain. The index reports two of the country’s most distressed counties—San Joaquin in California (Stockton) and Lee in Florida (Fort Myers)—both of which were down nearly 50% from their high-water marks, fell another 7% in August.
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http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2009/10/could_home_pric.html October 7, 2009
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
FORT MYERS, Fla. — When Mike Cannington lost his job as marketing director for a chain of motorcycle dealerships in August of 2008, he figured he'd find a new one within a few weeks.
He'd spent 16 years in marketing and once led the local chamber of commerce. "I thought there'd be a job out there for me," he says.
. . . .
Recently, he's had to fight off darker thoughts, sometimes wondering if he'll ever work again. "You sit there and you say, 'What's it going to take?' says the burly and affable former TV sports anchor. "You don't see a light at the end of the tunnel."
Cannington is among thousands of people in Fort Myers and millions nationwide who have been out of work six months or longer during this bruising recession. Nationwide, the number of long-term unemployed people hit a record 5.4 million in September, or 35.6% of the jobless.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2009-10-07-long-term-joblessness_N.htm