Tag Archives: Negative Equity

Although numerous markets have seen a decrease in home prices, one index found that the number of homes reaching all-time high prices is growing at a rapid rate.

While negative equity rates have improved overall nationally, the recovery has been imbalanced when it comes to house prices and geography.

What are the factors driving the increase in home equity, and what are the expectations for 2016?

Negative equity is down to 13.1 percent nationwide, but is still a nagging problem choking real growth and limiting new inventory, according to a new report by Zillow.

The number of homes with equity has been on the rise while the number of homes with negative equity has been falling. What are the implications for the mortgage market and for the overall economy?

The amount of underwater mortgages nationwide continues to decline.

"Negative equity has become almost an afterthought in a handful of the nation's hottest markets, but is holding back the recovery in dozens of large markets nationwide," said Dr. Svenja Gudell, Zillow's Chief Economist.

Nevada had the highest share of residential properties in negative equity (commonly referred to as "underwater" or "upside down") in Q2 with 20.6 percent, followed by Florida, Arizona, Rhode Island, and Illinois, according to CoreLogic.

The national aggregate value of negative equity at the end of Q2 was approximately $309.5 billion, which was a decline from $338 billion at the end of Q1 and from $350 billion year-over-year (11.6 percent), according to CoreLogic.

Though three million borrowers nationwide remain underwater, representing about 6.1 percent of the active mortgage universe, the number of underwater borrowers is down about 79 percent from the peak of 15 million in 2010, according to Black Knight.