Attom Data Solutions (parent to RealtyTrac) recently released their Q3 2016 U.S. Home Equity and Underwater Report, which shows that over 13 million U.S. homeowners (23.4%) were equity rich (with a loan-to-value ratio of 50% or lower). However their report revealed that over 6.1 million homeowners (10.8%) were seriously underwater (those owing at least 25 percent more on outstanding mortgages than the estimated market value of the home). Interestingly, the share of seriously underwater homeowners was 20% or higher in seven of the 88 metro areas analyzed in the report: Las Vegas (25%); Akron, Ohio (24.2%); Cleveland, Ohio (22.8%); Toledo, Ohio (21%); Dayton, Ohio (20%); Detroit (20%); and Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida (20%).
Since the peak in seriously underwater homeowners at 12.8 million representing 28.6 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage in Q2 2012, the number of seriously underwater homeowners has decreased by more than 6.7 million.
