Was it a surprise to see two “People Are Walking Away From Their Homes” stories in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal today? (I’ll just mention I talked briefly about the “walking away” phenom in my “Arson is Not Your Friend” post three weeks ago — yeah, yeah, I haven’t gotten around to writing about it. I will, though. Swear. But it’s nice to know they’re reading me!)

Weird part about it all? They highlight two different Bay Area families! (At least one from Vacaville!) Can’t they find any in New York?

From the New York Times article:

Christian Menegatti, lead analyst at RGE Monitor, said the firm predicted more homeowners would walk away from their homes if prices continued to drop, regardless of their financial circumstances. If home prices drop an additional 10 percent, Mr. Menegatti said, 20 million households will owe more than the value of their homes.

“Will everyone walk out?” he said. “No. But there’s been a cultural shift. Buying a house used to be like entering a marriage, a commitment for life. Now, if you see something better, you go back into the dating market.”

From the Wall Street Journal:

Many are speculators who had planned to quickly flip the home, but others appear to be homeowners who had second thoughts about their purchase.

“It may not be a big thing yet, and hopefully it won’t be,” says David Berson, chief economist for mortgage insurer PMI Mortgage Group Inc., of Walnut Creek, Calif. But if it turns out to be a significant trend, he says, it means that “delinquencies and defaults could be higher than the industry is estimating.”

So, we are all big news, according to New York City media. So, is it OK to walk away when you know there’s very little chance of holding onto your property? Apparently our government says that it’s wrong. According to the Associated Press:

(U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry) Paulson said that homeowners who could afford to make their monthly mortgage payments should honor their obligations even if their loans were currently “underwater,” meaning the mortgage at the moment is higher than the value of the home because the steep housing slump has pushed home prices down.

I wouldn’t listen to him, though. He wants to get rid of the penny.