How flippers flopped housing market

Florida home flippers were partly to blame for the housing downturn in
the state, and their role is larger than previously thought, according
to a federal report. “We conclude that investors were much more
important in the housing boom and bust during the 2000s than previously
thought,” the report, by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, noted.
“In the end, even the value of the 20 percent down payments made by
responsible, prime borrowers was wiped out, leaving the housing market,
and the economy, in the vulnerable state we find them in today.” Over 30
percent of Florida homebuyers had two or more mortgages in 2007,
according to the data. [Palm
Beach Post]