Nevada Has Highest Percentage of ‘Under Water’ Households
November 1st, 2008Via: Wall Street Journal:
Nevada leads the U.S. in the proportion of households whose mortgage debt exceeds the current estimated value of their homes, a condition known as being “under water,” according to a new study.
First American CoreLogic, a real-estate data firm based in Santa Ana, Calif., estimated that 48% of owners of single-family homes with mortgages in Nevada are under water. That compares with 18% nationwide.
First American said it based its estimates on data for 42 million properties, accounting for more than 80% of U.S. home mortgages.
Many Americans are under water because they bought homes at or near the peak of the housing boom and put little or no money down. Home values in the Las Vegas metro area have fallen 36% since peaking in early 2006, estimates Zillow.com, another real-estate data provider.
Many underwater homeowners can wait for prices to recover. The problem arises for those who lose jobs or have to move. They will have trouble selling their homes for enough to pay off the mortgage and thus may face foreclosure.
Research Credit: Lagavulin
