It depends on where the house is located. Currently, banks are quite conservative about lending money out on a refi. In my neighborhood, a comparable is taking back up offers after being on the market for one month. It sounds like your house was recently built and or is surrounded by a newer development which can be a victim of collapsing prices because of possible surrounding foreclosures. Many newer developments were subject to sale right at the peak or close to it which spells big trouble. I am generally speaking of older stable areas. Even in stable areas, there was always a dip shit or two, that paid a horrendous price for a property with no money down and drove it into the ground. I have a neighbor that bought one of these for a 300K discount. After he gets done fixing it up, He’ll be in the property for just about par for the neighborhood.

A neighbor refied his house, a model exactly like mine but I had about 40K more in upgrades than him. His appraisal came in about the time my house closed. His “appraisal” was 580K while I finally sold after on the market for 1 year at the following list prices..739K, 699K, 649K,599K,515K. After 2 months at 515K I sold for asking.

I really doubt the “appraisal” is the same as what it might sell for.

Other than that, I agree with your statement about the dollar and quality completely.

Gross public debt mushroomed during years of stimulus spending on expensive dams and roads, and this year it passed 187 percent of Japan’s economy.

That debt could soon reach twice the size of the $5 trillion economy — by far the highest debt-to-G.D.P. ratio in recent memory — and the biggest, in real terms, the world has seen. Japan’s outstanding debt is as big as the economies of Britain, France and Germany combined.