St Casimirs Mortgage Minute

Underwater Property Numbers Fall: RealtyTrac

At the end of 2015, RealtyTrac reports that 6.4 million U.S. properties -- or 11.5 percent of all properties with a mortgage -- were "seriously underwater," with the combined loan amount secured on the property at least 25 percent higher than the property's estimated value. This figure was down from 7.1 million, or 12.7 percent of all mortgaged properties, in the fourth quarter of 2014. Moreover, the number of seriously underwater properties has significantly declined from its peak in the second quarter of 2012, when 12.8 million, or 28.6 percent of mortgage properties, were seriously underwater. However, Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, notes that "it will likely be another five years at least before most of those remaining underwater properties move into positive equity territory." The highest levels of seriously underwater properties were in Florida and Ohio. In contrast, 12.6 million, or 22.5 percent of all mortgaged properties, were equity-rich, with at least 50 percent equity, at the end of 2015.

From "Underwater Property Numbers Fall: RealtyTrac"
Credit Union Times (02/03/16) Atkinson, William