Negative Home Equity Declines

CoreLogic estimates 4.0 million homes have negative equity, but that number has fallen by 1.0 million in the past year.

PALM COAST, FL – June 13, 2016 – CoreLogic’s Equity Report for the 2016 First Quarter shows how much rising home values reduce the number of homeowners with negative equity.

“More than 1 million homeowners have escaped the negative equity trap over the past year. We expect this positive trend to continue over the balance of 2016 and into next year as home prices continue to rise. Nationally, the CoreLogic Home Price Index was up 5.5 percent year over year through the first quarter. If home values rise another 5 percent uniformly across the U.S., the number of underwater borrowers will fall by another one million during the next year,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

Highlights from the report:

• The number of mortgaged residential properties with equity is now at 46.7 million.
• 10.3% of mortgaged homes have negative equity.
• 15.0% of Florida mortgaged homes have negative equity.
• The average loan-to-value ratio for all mortgaged homes is 56.9%.
• The average loan-to-value for all Florida mortgaged homes is 61.7%