One-Fourth of Borrowers Are Underwater
It looks like Short Sale will be around for awhile here in Sacramento. The following is an article that was published in Wall Street. The good news is that California was in 5th place instead of 1st.
More than 23 percent of people with mortgages owe more on their properties than they are worth, according to a report released Tuesday by research firm First American CoreLogic.
Another 2.3 million homeowners are within 5 percent of being underwater, bringing the total of those who are upside down or close to it to about 28 percent.
About 5.3 million U.S. households have mortgages that are at least 20 percent higher than their home’s value, the First American report says. Borrowers owing more than 120 percent of their home’s value are the most likely to default, First American calculates.
The majority of underwater mortgages are in the following states:
- Nevada: 65 percent of home owners are underwater
- Arizona: 48 percent
- Florida: 45 percent
- Michigan: 37 percent
- California: 35 percent
The report also notes that most U.S. homeowners have home equity, and nearly 24 million owner-occupied homes don’t have any mortgage at all, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
I just posted about this in my blog as well. It’s really incredible news…. those numbers are truly jaw-dropping.
Its really sad its our job to clean this all up now!