White House Value Falls $23 million

http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Real_estate/20090203_white_house.
White House value falls $23 million after housing market crash news
03 February 2009
The US President's residence, amongst the most expensive houses in the US, at around $308,058,000, has lost more than $23 million in value compared to last year, if the White House were actually a home that could be bought and sold.
The White House's estimated value has decreased by 7.2 per cent, or more than $23 million dollars, in the past year but its value has nearly doubled from the $167,861,500 in January 2001 when George Bush was sworn in as president, according to independent real estate service provider Zillow.com.
As Barack Obama moved along with his family into his official residence for the next five years, the president would not be able to afford the house on his salary had the White House been mortgaged to him.
Had the president to take out a standard 30-year mortgage at a fixed rate on the White House today, assuming 20 per cent down payment and a 6 per cent rate interest rate, his monthly payment (including principal and interest) would be $1.48 million.
Even with the treasury department's proposed 4.5 per cent rate on 30-year mortgages, a monthly payment would still top $1.25 million.
Even if Obama were to spend 30 per cent of his gross income as US President on housing, it would add up to $133,333 per year, or $11,111 per month, still falling short by more than $1 million on a monthly payment for this home.
Obama would have to rake in a salary of $53.3 million in gross income a year to afford a standard 30-year mortgage at a fixed rate of interest on the White House, and have $62 million saved up for a down payment of 20 per cent..
To determine the White House estimate, such as a home's physical attributes, recent comparable sales, tax information and local market trends, Zillow's team of data statisticians first looked at the home's physical characteristics, including 55,000 square feet of indoor space, 132 total rooms, 35 bathrooms, 16 bedrooms, three kitchens and 18 acres of premium downtown Washington DC land.
They then considered the most expensive home sales in Washington, DC in 2008, as well as other historic homes in the DC area recently put up for sale, and calculated the premium historic homes typically fetch over similar homes with no historical significance.
Zillow's statisticians deemed the White House the most historic home in the US and applied a maximum historical premium to their models to determine a Zestimate value today of $308,058,000.
According to Zillow.com, the US housing market lost $3.3 trillion in value last year with $1.4 trillion, 42 per cent being lost in the fourth quarter alone and nearly one in six (17.6 per cent) of all homeowners with mortgages will end up paying more than the value of their homes.