Friday, January 09, 2015YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The number of residential properties with a mortgage determined to be in negative equity – or “underwater” – is declining in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman region, reports CoreLogic.
Negative equity means borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. It can occur because of a decline in value, an increase in mortgage debt or a combination of both.
In the local region, CoreLogic data shows 9.8%, or 8,349, or all residential properties with mortgages were in negative equity as of the third quarter of 2014. This compares to 10.5%, or 8,941 properties, in the second quarter of 2014.
CoreLogic is a provider of property information and analytics based in Irvine, Calif. Its analysis for the nation as a whole shows 5.1 million homes, or 10.3% of all residential properties with a mortgage, remained in negative equity as of the third quarter compared to 5.4 million, or 10.9% in the second quarter.
"Nationally, the negative equity share is down over three percentage points over the past year. Declines were concentrated in a handful of states, such as Nevada, Georgia, Michigan and Florida," said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic. "Forecasted house price appreciation of about 5% over the next year suggests that negative equity should be at about 8% a year from now, still above average, but approaching the pre-crisis level."
Nevada had the highest percentage of mortgaged properties in negative equity at 25.4%, followed by Florida (23.8%), Arizona (19%), Rhode Island (14.8%) and Illinois (14.1%). These top five states together account for 33.1% of negative equity in the United States, according to CoreLogic.
Ohio’s share of mortgaged properties underwater in the third quarter was 13.7%. In Pennsylvania the share was 5.9%.
SOURCE: CoreLogic
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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