The U.S. housing slump is creating another negative ripple effect, this one by extension, or by association, if you will, as in condo/co-op association.

Owners in condo associations are having to chip-in to pay for unexpected association maintenance, tax, and related fees when other residents enter foreclosure or are substantially behind in payments, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The Times cited the case of condo owners in a 43-story Miami, Florida condo having to ante up more money after 1 in 6 residents battled foreclosure. The additional charge: an additional $1,000 assessment and $50 more a month for cable and internet fees, on top of the regular $450 monthly maintenance.

Connecticut-based appraiser Lawrence Schmidt, not a realtor but a former 15-year condominium owner with extensive knowledge of the sector, told BloggingStocks Thursday prospective buyers need to fully-research a condo association's membership status, including record of tax payments of individual members, in addition to the standard evaluation of the condo association's maintenance fees, contractor services, and quality-of-life issues, etc. Co-op buyers must do even more research on the co-op's balance sheet, monthly budget, cash flow, outstanding mortgage, and other related financials, he said.

Mortgage applications increased a seasonally-adjusted 8.3% compared to the prior week on continued, lower interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced Wednesday in a statement.

Furthermore, the association said refinance applications rose 16.9% during the week ended January 18, 2008 compared to the previous week, and are up 92% since November 2007. Purchase applications are up 7% during the same period. Also, the 4-week moving average for all loan applications increased 13.7% compared with the same period a year ago.

The average interest rate for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.96%, down from 5.07%. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.49%, down from 5.62%. The rate for a one-year ARM was 5.51%, down from 5.77%.

I have to say, I had no idea Miami condo prices were down this badly. According to a CBS report that someone was kind enough to post on YouTube, new condos sold at a recent auction for 50% their original list prices -- as little as $150,000 for a loft.

One bedroom/one bath condos went for an average of $176 thousand at the auction, down from the last year's price of $350. Two bedroom condos originally priced at $600 could be had for an average of $295.

In a recent episode of the 'The Millionaire Inside' on CNBC, real estate expert (and author of the amazing book The Automatic Millionaire) speculated that some people would get very rich buying real estate in the current market. But more than a few developers have become very poor by getting into the last bubble too late.