Percentage of Seriously Underwater Homeowners Remains Steady

Feb 08, 2018

For the first time since the Great Recession, the share of homeowners who owe more than the value of their homes is below 10 percent

During the fourth quarter of 2017, 9.3 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage were seriously underwater, according to new data from ATTOM Data Solutions. This is only slightly below the 9.6 percent level in the fourth quarter of 2016, and it marks the It was the smallest year-over-year decrease in share of seriously underwater properties since ATTOM began tracking this data in the first quarter of 2012.

On the flip side, ATTOM determined that 25.4 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage were equity rich by the end of the fourth quarter of 2017, up from 24.6 percent from a year ago. Nonetheless, that was the smallest year-over-year increase in share of equity rich properties since the third quarter of 2015.

The share of homeowners with at least 20 percent equity dropped 1.1 percentage points from a year ago and the share of homeowners with between 10 percent equity and 10 percent negative equity increased 1.1 percentage points from a year ago. ATTOM stated that this data showed were “increasingly leveraging their equity to sell and move up into another home or by refinancing.”

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Phil Hall

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Feb 08, 2018

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