Although more homeowners are gaining equity across the country, owners in certain areas are remaining underwater in large numbers. More than 5.4 million U.S. properties remained seriously underwater at the end of the second quarter, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q2 2017 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater report. A property is considered seriously underwater when the combined loan amount secured on the property is at least 25 percent higher than the home’s estimated market value.
There is a silver lining, however: The number of seriously underwater properties in the U.S. has fallen by more than 1.2 million from a year ago, according to the report. The 5.4 million properties that are seriously underwater today comprise about 9.5 percent of all properties with a mortgage in the U.S., which is down from 11.9 percent in the second quarter of 2016.
The highest number of seriously underwater properties is between $100,000 and $300,000. About 9 percent of properties valued between those amounts were seriously underwater by the end of the second quarter. For comparison, 4 percent of properties with an estimated market value of $100,000 or less were considered seriously underwater; 4.9 percent of properties between $300,000 and $750,000; and 4.7 percent of properties above $750,000.
The highest share of seriously underwater properties at the end of the second quarter were in the following states:
- Nevada: 17.4%
- Louisiana: 17.1%
- Illinois: 16.8%
- Ohio: 16.5%
- Indiana: 16.4%
On a metro level, the areas with populations of at least 500,000 that had the highest share of underwater properties in the second quarter were:
- Cleveland: 21.8%
- Baton Rouge, La.: 21%
- Akron, Ohio: 20.5%
- Las Vegas: 20.2%
- Toledo, Ohio: 20.2%
Source: “Number of Equity Rich U.S. Properties Increases to 14 Million in Q2 2017 – One in Four U.S. Properties With a Mortgage,” RealtyTrac/ATTOM Data Solutions (Aug. 15, 2017)
