Q1 2013 Negative Equity Report

13 Million U.S. Homeowners Still Underwater in Q1, But More Than 9 Million More May Lack Enough Equity to Move. Homeowners With “Effective” Negative Equity Likely Can’t Afford Down Payment on Next Home, Contributing to Inventory Shortages, According to First Quarter Zillow Negative Equity Report released May 23, 2013 . The national negative equity rate fell in the first quarter, to 25.4% of all homeowners with a mortgage, according to the first quarter Zillow® Negative Equity Report. But another 18.2 percent of homeowners with mortgages, while not technically underwater, likely do not have enough equity to afford to move.
Slightly more than 13 million homeowners with a mortgage were in negative equity, or underwater, at the end of the first quarter, owing more on their mortgage than their home is worth. But when including homeowners with less than 20 percent home equity, the “effective” negative equity rate at the end of the first quarter was 43.6 percent, or a total of 22.3 million homeowners. These homeowners likely cannot afford a down payment for a new home, tying them to their current homes and contributing to inventory shortages.

A homeowner technically reaches positive equity as soon as the market value of their home exceeds their outstanding loan balance. But listing a home for sale and buying a new one generally requires equity of 20 per-cent or more to comfortably meet related costs. Among the 30 largest metro areas covered by Zillow, those with the highest effective negative equity rate, including homeowners with 20 percent equity or less, include Las Vegas (71.5 percent); Atlanta (64.1 percent); and Riverside, Calif. (59.7 percent).

The first quarter Zillow Negative Equity Forecast[ii] predicts the negative equity rate among all homeowners with a mortgage will fall to 23.5 percent by the first quarter of 2014, lifting more than 1.4 million additional homeowners nation-wide into positive equity. Of the 30 largest metro areas, the majority of these newly freed homeowners are anticipated to come from: Los Angeles (94,642 homeowners); Riverside (74,693 homeowners); and Phoenix (51,580 homeowners).

Source: Complete article at www.Zillow.com SEATTLE, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/