How Underwater Are We?

Did you know that about 2/3’s of homes in the United States are mortgaged? It’s a big number. Even more surprising is that about 2.5 million homeowners in the U.S. still have negative equity. Negative equity, often referred to as being “underwater” or “upside down,” happens when borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

While U.S. homeowners saw their collective equity increase by close to a trillion dollars in 2017, millions of homeowners still owe more than their home is worth. In fact, roughly 1 in 20 homeowners with mortgages were still underwater at the end of last year.

The good news is that the equity increases in 2017 brought around 700,000 homes from negative to positive equity. The average gain for a homeowner last year was roughly $15,000. Of course, what goes up, can come down. However, it looks like this will be another good year for homeowners.

Florida did a little worse than the U.S. as a whole last year, with average equity increasing by around $12,000. Further, there are still more “underwater” homes as a percentage of total mortgages in Florida than the country as a whole. That makes the situation here a little more tenuous than the U.S. in total, but things are still pointing up. Look for more Florida homeowners to be right side up by the end of 2018.