What is Subprime Mortgage Crisis According to Wikipedia ?
The subprime mortgage financial crisis refers to the sharp rise in foreclosures in the subprime mortgage market that began in the United States in 2006 and became a global financial crisis in July 2007. Rising interest rates increased newly-popular adjustable rate mortgages and property values suffered declines from the demise of the housing bubble, leaving home owners unable to meet financial commitments and lenders without a means to recoup their losses.
The sharp rise in foreclosures after the housing bubble caused several major subprime mortgage lenders, such as New Century Financial Corporation, to shut down or file for bankruptcy, with some accused of actively encouraging fraudulent income inflation on loan applications, leading to the collapse of stock prices for many in the subprime mortgage industry, and drops in stock prices of some large lenders like Countrywide Financial.[1]
This has been associated with declines in stock markets worldwide, several hedge funds becoming worthless, coordinated national bank interventions, contractions of retail profits, and bankruptcy of several mortgage lenders.
Observers of the meltdown have cast blame widely. Some, like Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee chairman Chris Dodd of Connecticut, have highlighted the predatory lending practices of subprime lenders and the lack of effective government oversight.[2] Others have charged mortgage brokers with steering borrowers to unaffordable loans, appraisers with inflating housing values, and Wall Street investors with backing subprime mortgage securities without verifying the strength of the portfolios. Borrowers have also been criticized for over-stating their incomes on loan applications[3] and entering into loan agreements they could not meet. [4]
The effects of the meltdown spread beyond housing and disrupted global financial markets (see financial contagion) as investors, largely deregulated foreign and domestic hedge funds, were forced to re-evaluate the risks they were taking and consumers lost the ability to finance further consumer spending, causing increased volatility in the fixed income, equity, and derivative markets.
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