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  3. The housing market exited the trauma ward (急救室) in 2013. Prices rose as much

The housing market exited the trauma ward (急救室) in 2013. Prices rose as much

游客2024-03-07  24
问题     The housing market exited the trauma ward (急救室) in 2013. Prices rose as much as 30 percent in some areas, bidding wars broke out and the foreclosure rate (丧失赎取权率) halved from its peak. But the patient is by no means fully recovered. In fact, five years after the housing bubble collapsed, one in five mortgage holders still owe more than their home is worth.
    At its worst in early 2012, almost 16 million Americans were under water on their mortgage. In some of the hardest hit neighborhoods, such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Detroit, 70 percent of homeowners owed more than the value of their home. Since then, rising home prices have pushed 5 million homeowners back into the black, but 11 million out of a total of 50 million mortgage holders remain in what financial folks call a negative equity (负资产) position. "This is the new normal in the housing market," said Svenja Gudell, director of economic research at Zillow, an online real estate database, "We will have high levels of negative equity for some time."
    With mortgage rates rising and expected to hit 5 percent late next year, many economists predict a more subdued (萧条的) housing market in 2014. That means price gains should moderate and it could take a while longer for homeowners who are under water to recover. Out of the 75 million homeowners in America, about one in seven stay trapped in their homes, unable to move or sell.
    Housing prices have gone up and down over the decades, but until the financial crisis of 2008, it was rare to owe a bank more than a home is worth. For all of the 19th century and even during the Great Depression, this was virtually unheard of.
    Until all the negative equity disappears, the housing market won’t be back to normal. It looks like we still have years to go. [br] Why do people feel trapped in their own houses?
选项 A、Because they cannot move out from their houses.
B、Because their houses are worth less than they owe.
C、Because banks require them to stay in their houses.
D、Because they can’t afford to buy new ones.
答案 B
解析 细节题。根据题干中的trapped可定位到原文第三段最后一句。第三段前面提到，许多经济学家预测2014年的房地产市场走势会更加低迷，房价收益会十分平缓；而第二段也提到许多房主的银行欠款超过其房屋本身的价值，据此可知，房主们的房产不足以偿还银行欠款，故不能出售房产，并因此而感觉被困在其中，即被“套牢”，故选B。
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