Scientific Dictatorship

US Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression

CNBC

It's official: The housing crisis that began in 2006 and has recently entered a double dip is now worse than the Great Depression.

Prices have fallen some 33 percent since the market began its collapse, greater than the 31 percent fall that began in the late 1920s and culminated in the early 1930s, according to Case-Shiller data.

The news comes as the Federal Reserve considers whether the economy has regained enough strength to stand on its own and as unemployment remains at a still-elevated 9.1 percent, throwing into question whether the recovery is real.It's official: The housing crisis that began in 2006 and has recently entered a double dip is now worse than the Great Depression.

Prices have fallen some 33 percent since the market began its collapse, greater than the 31 percent fall that began in the late 1920s and culminated in the early 1930s, according to Case-Shiller data...[Full Article]

Labels: depression, economy, housing

CNN's Eunice Yoon reports on victims of China's property boom who are forced to live in Beijing's tunnels and cellars.

Labels: CNN, housing, Mouse Tribe, video

Is Your New Neighbor a Squatter?

In an upscale enclave in the San Fernando Valley, there's a new neighbor on the block. He drives a big Mercedes, sometimes a fancy SUV and residents say he's been living in a three-story mansion, which was empty and going into foreclosure.

His name is Dawud Walli, and neighbors say he moved into a huge empty home last July, furnishing nearly every room of the house.

"We feel unsafe. We can't sleep. We have families," say some of the residents who live nearby.

They say Walli made this a party house.

Inside, we found booze and condoms scattered about. But no one really knew what went on here, because some of the windows were covered with tape and garbage bags.

"They don't want to make contact with the neighbors. They do not want to make eye contact with you. They do not talk to you," says someone who lives nearby.

Prosecutors say this is happening across Southern California.

They've caught squatters illegally living in homes in Bel-Air, Marina Del Rey and Winnetka.

"It's a huge problem and growing every day," says Los Angeles City Attorney Maureen Rodriguez.

"It's just amazing how nervy they can be: presenting false leases," says Rodriguez...

[Full Article]

Labels: economy, housing, poverty, squatters