The Crappy Housing Market, by the Numbers

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This shouldn’t come as news to anyone, but these statistics show just how bad of a time it is to try to sell a house—and also how difficult it is for many homeowners to afford the ones they have.

1 in 40 Rate of home foreclosures in Savannah, Ga., one of the cities highlighted by CNNMoney as a surprise “foreclosure hotspot.” The foreclosure rate in Savannah was up 37% in 2010.

5 to 10 Economists and housing experts consulted by the WSJ estimate that housing prices will continue to decline by 5% to 10% before hitting bottom sometime later this year or next.

14 Percentage of Americans who would “walk away from their homes in a heartbeat if they could,” according to a Trulia.com survey. In the same survey, however, 78% said their homes were the best investment they ever made.

17 Number of counties in the U.S. where at least half of homeowners with a mortgage are underwater—i.e., they owe more than the home is worth—as of last fall, according to USA Today.

27 Percentage of homes around the country with mortgages that were underwater in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Zillow.com data. That’s up from a rate of 23% in the previous quarter, and the rise is largely due to a decline in estimated housing values. Also of note: The rate of homes selling for a loss reached a new peak (34.1%) in December.

28 Percentage of national homes sales that were all-cash transactions in 2010, up from just 14% two years ago. Tales abound of all-cash buyers scooping up homes in hard-hit states like Florida and Arizona for a tiny fraction of original asking prices—which is great for buyers (those with cash anyway), not so great (actually, sorta awful) for desperate sellers.

66.5 Percentage of U.S. households that owned their homes at the end of 2010, down from 69% in 2005.

600 Number of online students expected to sign up for a webinar tutorial in strategic mortgage default led by Brent White, a University of Arizona law professor and author of Underwater Home.

4.5 million Number of American homes currently in some stage of foreclosure, with an additional 1.5 million expected to enter foreclosure this year.

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