U.S. Homes Lose $2 Trillion in Value

American homeowners will collectively lose more than $2 trillion in home value by the end of 2008, according to a new report. The real estate Web site, Zillow.com, calculated that home values have dropped 8.4% year-over-year during the first three quarters of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007. Some 11.7 million Americans are now "underwater," owing more on their mortgage balances than their homes are worth. Zillow collects home values and analyzes home price trends in 163 markets; all but 30 registered price drops over the nine months ended September 30, compared with the same nine-month period of 2007.