If these people didn’t want to sell at a loss then they shouldn’t have:
1. Bought during a speculative real estate boom
2. Paid more for a house than they could ever hope to afford
3. Take a loan out that requires them to sell the house when payments adjust
4. Been greedy and tried to double their money on an already over-valued asset
Go ahead, don’t sell at a loss. Keep digging a hole of negative equity until you declare bankruptcy and give it back to the bank. People are as irrational out of the bubble as they were into it.
