strategic default

Attitudes toward mortgage default are shifting in America. People who've never missed a payment on anything in their lives are walking away from underwater homes, even when they can afford their monthly payments, because staying doesn't make financial sense. But how good a business decision is a strategic default?

Many troubled homeowners in the federal foreclosure relief program end up losing their property anyway. Banks gain the most by delaying repossessing houses they can't sell, while collecting monthly payments from strapped borrowers.

It's getting harder to avoid the evidence pointing to more trouble ahead for housing. Essentially, there's a massive mismatch between rising supplies of homes for sale and dwindling demand from buyers. Not even high-end markets are immune.

If you owned a house that's now worth a lot less than what you owe on your mortgage, would you walk away from it and default? A new survey indicates that millions of Americans would consider doing so in that situation. If you're among them, here's what you should know.