Financial Crisis?

You bet.  This means that, if many homeowners sell right now, they're going to have to write a check to somebody.  Just to sell.  That's wrong.

18% of homes 'underwater' on mortgages in U.S.

First American CoreLogic, a data supplier, says that in the July-September period, 18% of all properties with a mortgage were underwater - that is, worth less than the outstanding debt. The company's data includes over 80% of all mortgages. Here are some points from the press release: [...]