On home foreclosures, the rate has risen sharply especially for subprime borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages. Many analysts expect foreclosures to hit about 2 million this year, way up from the annual rate in 2001 to 2005. It has been estimated that if US housing prices fall by an additional 15 percent or so, approximately a third of US homeowners with mortgages will have negative equity in their homes. This negative equity issue is also raising the question of whether willingness to pay will have to be addressed along with ability to pay. Last but not least, one place where contagion.
