Negative Equity Epidemic
Liz Weston at MSN takes a look at why 10% of homeowners either have no equity or are already upside down. Some grim facts:
Nearly one in 10 households with a mortgage had zero or negative equity in their homes as of September 2005, according to First American Real Estate Solutions, an arm of title-insurance company First American Corp.
The study of 26 million homes in 36 states and the District of Columbia found that one in 20 home borrowers was upside-down by 10% or more.
Of those who bought or refinanced homes in 2005, 29% had zero or negative equity, and 15.2% were underwater by 10% or more.
Nationally, 117,259 properties entered some stage of foreclosure in February, according to foreclosure-monitoring firm RealtyTrac, a figure that's up 68% from February 2005.
One in five borrowers who took out loans in 2004 and 2005 was underwater as of September.
If home prices nationally were to fall by 10% nearly half of last year's borrowers and 17.7% of borrowers overall would owe more on their homes than they're worth.
And thats with just a 10% drop, like we keep saying, it won't take much to nudge this train off the tracks.
Nearly one in 10 households with a mortgage had zero or negative equity in their homes as of September 2005, according to First American Real Estate Solutions, an arm of title-insurance company First American Corp.
The study of 26 million homes in 36 states and the District of Columbia found that one in 20 home borrowers was upside-down by 10% or more.
Of those who bought or refinanced homes in 2005, 29% had zero or negative equity, and 15.2% were underwater by 10% or more.
Nationally, 117,259 properties entered some stage of foreclosure in February, according to foreclosure-monitoring firm RealtyTrac, a figure that's up 68% from February 2005.
One in five borrowers who took out loans in 2004 and 2005 was underwater as of September.
If home prices nationally were to fall by 10% nearly half of last year's borrowers and 17.7% of borrowers overall would owe more on their homes than they're worth.
And thats with just a 10% drop, like we keep saying, it won't take much to nudge this train off the tracks.
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