37% of homes in America are owned free and clear?


https://www.bloomberg.com/news...-clear-of-a-mortgage

Frankly, I don't find that terribly surprising. Older people who own a house have often paid off their primary mortgage. We have an aging population of home owners.

I guess I'm in the business of "surprising statistics" so they don't have a lot of power once you take a cursory look behind the curtain.

Here's another one:

How much did average college debt go up for college graduate borrowers at public universities between 2011 and 2017? It's a crisis, right?

Answer: $700 in 2017 dollars.

At private non-profit colleges?

Answer: $900.

I saw that statistic, and wondered whether it included landlord-owned homes.

I wondered the same thing. The article mentions that the statistic refers to owner-occupied homes.

After Katrina, it was reported that the Ninth Ward, which is not an affluent neighborhood, had the highest rate of home ownership in the city. It was explained that this was because many of the homes there had been handed down through a generation or more.

This complicated the recovery, though, because homeowners' insurance is required by banks lending money but it is often skipped by people who are short on money. When those houses were destroyed, the families lost everything.

Maybe this number seems high to us because we're not taking into account houses that have been owned in full for a long time.

Yep, the college debt one has always surprised me. I guess that implies that there are a small number of students who owe a freaking ton of money.

P*D, because I'm too lazy to dig up my files, I seem to recall that the largest debt was held by students who went to for-profit institutions, most of whom either didn't finish or had degrees that were worthless (like from Trump University)?

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
Yep, the college debt one has always surprised me. I guess that implies that there are a small number of students who owe a freaking ton of money.

P*D, because I'm too lazy to dig up my files, I seem to recall that the largest debt was held by students who went to for-profit institutions, most of whom either didn't finish or had degrees that were worthless (like from Trump University)?

Something like 1/3 of students owes 2/3 of the debt. Almost 60% of graduates who borrowed owe less than 20K, and 1/3 of graduates don't borrow at all. Students at for-profits tend to borrow much more than students at similar public universities (non-selective) and much more than students who go to community colleges. A substantial fraction of the population of undergrads with debt > 40K is found at for-profits.

And lastly, people who like to aggregate graduate debt and undergraduate debt in order to make the number seem larger deserve a special spot in statistical hell reserved for liars.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
After Katrina, it was reported that the Ninth Ward, which is not an affluent neighborhood, had the highest rate of home ownership in the city. It was explained that this was because many of the homes there had been handed down through a generation or more.

This complicated the recovery, though, because homeowners' insurance is required by banks lending money but it is often skipped by people who are short on money. When those houses were destroyed, the families lost everything.

Even more than $, the properties were some form of ownership titled heir property which comes down w/out a will etc, and even if one has money, banks etc wont work w those properties.
https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Inter...knowheirproperty.pdf.

quote:

Originally posted by piqaboo:

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
After Katrina, it was reported that the Ninth Ward, which is not an affluent neighborhood, had the highest rate of home ownership in the city. It was explained that this was because many of the homes there had been handed down through a generation or more.

This complicated the recovery, though, because homeowners' insurance is required by banks lending money but it is often skipped by people who are short on money. When those houses were destroyed, the families lost everything.

Even more than $, the properties were some form of ownership titled heir property which comes down w/out a will etc, and even if one has money, banks etc wont work w those properties.
https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Inter...knowheirproperty.pdf.

I've already gotten one book out of Louisiana's wonky inheritance laws (Plunder). I could probably get another book out of this.