According to recent data from Zillow, 13.7% of American homeowners in urban regions and 11.2% of homeowners in suburban areas are underwater on their mortgage. This compares to nearly a third of homeowners who were underwater after the burst of the housing bubble. Interestingly, negative equity is nearly equally spread across urban and suburban areas across the country. Zillow says that in 13 of the nation’s largest metros, the share of urban and suburban homeowners who are underwater is within two percentage points.
“At its worst, negative equity touched all kinds of homeowners in all kinds of markets,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. “The type of community a given home was in – urban or suburban – mattered little. Fast-forward a few years, and the relative vibrancy of a given community and how it has performed over the past few years, and not necessarily its location in the city or suburbs, matters a great deal.”
Key takeaways:
- Nationally, 12.1% of mortgaged homeowners are underwater, down from 12.7% in Q1 and 14.4% a year ago.
- Cleveland and Detroit have the greatest difference between urban and suburban negative equity rates.
- Negative equity is lowest in Western metros with strong job and housing markets.
Click here to read the full release on Zillow.com
