Newsweek: Dream House or Nightmare?

For those who have a harder time grasping the housing market, Newsweek has an excellent article highlighting a specific family who is affected by the slumping housing market. The article focuses on families who have built custom-built houses, expecting to cash in later on their investment. For example, the Elliott family built a $750,000 house, using part of inheritance money. They expected, based on the rising housing market from 2000 to 2005, to gain high returns on their investment. But instead, the house is rapidly losing its value and as the National Association of Realtors predicts, home sales will fall by 10.8 percent from 2006. The owner, Roger Elliott, predicts that the house is now worth 10 percent less than it cost to build. The article goes to show that not only those who financed homes with a subprime adjustable rate mortgage are at risk. In fact, the Elliotts have lots of equity and are not worried about paying mortgages. The housing market is affecting everyone in different aspects. Personally, I think it's unfortunate that those who were counting on using their houses as an investment are let down by the slumping housing market sales.