One thing that's fascinating about an economic crisis is the way ordinary people confound the experts. Consumers are expected to behave according to sophisticated economic models that have been built over decades, but sometimes they don't do what they're supposed to. That's happening now in the housing market.
"Strategic defaults" were once so rare that they didn't even have a name. If you had the money to pay your mortgage, you paid it. But the historic housing bust has changed that calculation.
Home values have fallen so much in some areas that even people with good jobs and the income to keep up their mortgage payments are deciding not to do so.
With ordinary defaults, there's usually something that goes wrong and disrupts household finances. But with voluntary walk-aways, homeowners simply decide they'd be better off if they stopped paying.
They're deemed "strategic" defaults because owners are making a difficult decision with consequences they'll have to live with for years.
The experts have long assumed that homeowners would never willingly endure the punishment for defaulting on a mortgage: wrecked credit and the inability to borrow in the future, which effectively means they may never own a home again. But the experts were wrong, and the unexpected shift in the way consumers think could reshape the economy in ways that don't fit those fancy computer models.
That means 144 monthly mortgage payments of perhaps $3,500 each -- $504,000 of hard-earned income -- will earn no return at all.
If the owner were forced to sell the home before it regains its value, the return on that cash would be negative.
Sure, that $3,500 per month puts a roof over your head, but rents have plummeted too, so many homeowners can rent a comparable home for a lot less than they're paying to own.
Financial logic seems convincing
So let's say that median California homeowner was able to rent a home for $2,500 a month, which is a reasonable figure. The rap on renting used to be that you gained no equity for your money. But that's a lot better than the negative equity you get from owning if you bought at the wrong time. And it leaves an extra $1,000 a month to spend, save or invest.The financial logic seems convincing. But of course there are dire ramifications, which is where it gets interesting.
Defaulting on a mortgage basically means that for the foreseeable future, you either need to live off cash or pay usurious interest rates. For the past couple of decades, with the proliferation of consumer credit, that has seemed like an antiquated way to live. But it's coming back in style.
A strategic defaulter who has done his homework knows that he probably won't be able to use credit cards for ordinary purchases, but with debit cards that's not such a big deal. If you need to buy a car, it's trickier, since it's hard to pay cash for an automobile. So strategic defaulters may be prioritizing their car payments above their mortgages, or even securing a loan and buying a new car before they default on the mortgage.
And tossing in the towel on one mortgage means there's a fat chance you'll ever get another, so defaulters are consigning themselves to life as renters.
Continued: Redefine the American dream
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