Sunday, January 12, 2014

9.3 Million U.S. Residential Properties Deeply Underwater in December 2013, Down From 10.7 Million in September 2013


Daren Blomquist

 
IRVINE, CA — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, today released its U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report for December 2013, which shows that 9.3 million U.S. residential properties were deeply underwater — where the combined loan amount secured by the property is at least 25 percent higher than the property’s estimated market value — representing 19 percent of all properties with a mortgage in December.

That was down from 10.7 million residential properties deeply underwater in September 2013, representing 23 percent of all properties with a mortgage, and down from 10.9 million properties deeply underwater in January 2013, representing 26 percent of all properties with a mortgage.


 The recent peak in negative equity was May 2012, when 12.8 million U.S. residential properties were deeply underwater, representing 29 percent of all properties with a mortgage.


“During the housing downturn we saw a downward spiral of falling home prices resulting in rising negative equity, which in turn put millions of homeowners at higher risk for foreclosure when they encountered a trigger event such as job loss,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

 “Now we are seeing the reverse trend: rising home prices resulting in falling negative equity, which in turn is giving millions of homeowners a lifeline to avoid foreclosure when they encounter a trigger event.

“On the other end of the spectrum, the percentage of equity-rich homeowners is nearing a tipping point that should result in a larger inventory of homes listed for sale and give the overall economy a nice shot in the arm in 2014.”
  
For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Jennifer von Pohlmann
PR Manager
Office: 949.502.8300 ext 139

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