Porker’s Index III

It's been a while since I did a Porker's Index and they're always fun.

Since I've got foreclosures on my mind lately let's start with...

... not quite what I had in mind.

The Shadow Market

"Shadow market" in terms of home sales refers to incomplete short sales, pending foreclosures, and homeowners who are at least 3 months behind on their mortgage payments.

Unemployment in Chicago
August 2010: 11.4%
August 2012: 10.3%^[1]Bureau of Labor

Mortgages over 90 days past due in Chicago
August 2010: 10.4%
August 2012: 10.2%^[2]CoreLogic

Amazing how little has changed over the past two...

Months' Inventory of Distressed Property, Chicago Metro Region
August 2010: 30.2
August 2012: 19.4^[3]CoreLogic

Wait... what?

Moving right along, one of the main problems with distressed properties (short sales, foreclosures, and delinquent mortgages) is people spending too much on their mortgage payments.

Mortgage Overspending

Americans spending more than 30% of their income on their mortgage: 37.5%
Illinois residents spending more than 30% of their income on their mortgage: 38.2%

Percentage of Americans who think that if you're spending too much on your house you should sell it and buy a cheaper one: 63%^[4]statisticsbrain.com

All that overspending. We must be crazy. Which got me to thinking, are we crazier at any particular times? They say the full moon brings out the worst in everybody. Is that really so?

Full Moon Fever

Crimes reported in Chicago in 2012
On the days surrounding full moons: 12,266
On the two days immediately before: 12,000

Worst day for crimes in the past 12 months, Chicago: November 25, 2011 (Black Friday)^[5]Spotcrime.com

So holiday shopping got the worst of us last year. Maybe it's because of all the debt we were racking up.

Comparative US Spending

Total Holiday Spending, Nov 25-Dec 24, 2011, US: $52 billion

Just to put that into perspective:

Annual US Liquor Store Revenue: $45 billion
Annual US teen spending: $208.7 billion
Total Franchise Revenue for 23 seasons of "The Simpsons," including the movie: $12.3 billion^[6]Statisticsbrain.com

Speaking of the Simpsons...

Staying Classy

The stats didn't say whether they were counting our consumption of processed cheese food product.

Dunkin Donuts 2011 Revenue: $628 million^[7]Ycharts.com
Average annual US beer industry revenue: $196 billion
Pizza: $32 billion^[8]Statisticsbrain.com

Annual Per Capita Wine Consumption:
US: 1.08 cases
France: 4.9 cases^[9]World Almanac & Statisticsbrain

Annual Per Capita Cheese Consumption:
US: 14.8kg
France: 26.1kg
Greece: 31.1kg^[10]Statisticsbrain.com

You know, when I think of cheesy things, one particular person always comes to mind.

Celebrity Tidbits

Highest Grossing Dead Celebrity in 2010: Elvis Presley, $52 million^[11]Statisticsbrain.com
Highest Grossing Living Celebrity in 2010: Oprah Winfrey, $315 million^[12]Forbes

By point of comparison...

Starcraft II, first day sales: Appx $72 million (1.8 mil copies at between $35 and $60 each) ^[13]VGChartz.com
Iphone 4, first day sales: Appx $425 million (1.7 mil units at between $199 and $299 each)^[14]Reuters and Apple

Trapped in the Mortgage is more like it. Better keep churning out those chapters, buddy.

And to wrap things up in a nice little circle...

R. Kelly's estimated net worth: $1.5 million^[15]getnetworth.com
Original principal on the 1999 mortgage for R. Kelly's mansion in Olympia Fields, Illinois, now facing foreclosure: $3.5 million^[16]Cook County Recorder of Deeds
R. Kelly's estimated monthly payment on that mansion assuming 1999 Jumbo mortgage rates & 20% Down Payment: $17,729
Which means that to avoid overspending, he would need to earn $709,160 per year.

...or a little less than half his net worth.