by Calculated Risk on 10/12/2008 10:03:00 AM

Here are a couple of articles that suggest a number of recent home buyers are already underwater (owe more than their homes are worth).

Here is a graphic from the South Florida NewsPress.com: ‘Underwater’ borrowers sign of more trouble

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Worst off are those who bought homes in 2006, just as the housing boom was ending: 78.5 percent of those now have home values less than the original loan amount, according to second-quarter statistics compiled by real estate data provider Zillow.com.

But look at 2007 and even 2008. In Lee County Florida, according to NewsPress.com, 14.5% of homeowners who bought this year owe more than their homes are worth. And almost two-thirds of homebuyers in 2007 are underwater.

And the MercuryNews.com has a sad tale of a neighborhood devasted by foreclosures: Financial crisis: Homeowners in Manteca neighborhood cope with foreclosures.

The math alone is humiliating. The house was worth $770,000 after the Cantrells bought it [in 2006] and upgraded the back yard. They spent $250,000 for the down payment and pool but still owe about $520,000. They've had four offers on the house — the highest was $355,000.

In October 2007 the home builder sold some of the homes at auction.

Representing his neighborhood with a promise to report back, [Dave Cantrell] attended the auction in a Pleasanton hotel ballroom last October. ... While Cantrell had paid a base price of $658,500 for his house, a nearly identical one sold for $391,000.

Even the buyers who paid $391,000 last October have clearly lost money and with a 10% downypayment are close to being underwater.