Analysts at Morgan Stanley have determined that 12% of all mortgage defaults in February were from people who afford to pay, i.e. they were “strategic defaults” from people who decided that their home mortgages were just a bad investment that they needed to walk away from.

If you think that home prices are on their way to a serious rebound, the fact that there are a huge number of people who are far enough underwater that they are walking away, even with the cost to their credit rating and social pressure, should make you pause.