Anxious house owners next in line for bailout

MESA - In one neighbourhood in this Arizona city, every block has at least two for-sale signs out front. Many homes have broken porch lights and crispy brown lawns. One house has graffiti on the door.

With one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, Arizona makes a fitting backdrop for President Barack Obama's new US$50 billion ($98 billion) housing programme, to be unveiled today in a speech at a local high school.

More than 2.3 million homeowners coast-to-coast faced foreclosure proceedings last year, an 81 per cent increase from 2007. Analysts say that number could soar as high as 10 million in the coming years, depending on the severity of the recession.

Racing to reverse the country's economic spiral, Obama yesterday signed his mammoth stimulus package into law in similarly hard-hit Colorado.

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Posted: 19 Feb 2009

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