Seriously Underwater U.S. Properties Down 1.2 Million From A Year Ago In Q1 2017, Equity Rich Properties Increase 1.4 Million

IRVINE, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation's largest multi-sourced property database, today released its Q1 2017 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that as of the end of the first quarter of 2017 there were nearly 5.5 million (5,497,771) U.S. properties seriously underwater — where the combined loan amount secured by the property was at least 25 percent higher than the property's estimated market value — up from 5.4 million seriously underwater properties in Q4 2016 but still down by more than 1.2 million from the 6.7 million seriously underwater properties in Q1 2016.

The 5.5 million seriously underwater properties at the end of Q1 2017 represented 9.7 percent of all U.S. properties with a mortgage, up from 9.6 percent in Q4 2016 but down from 12.0 percent in Q1 2016.

View historic equity trends.

The report is based on publicly recorded mortgage and deed of trust data collected and licensed by ATTOM Data Solutions nationwide along with an industry standard automated valuation model (AVM) updated monthly in the ATTOM Data Warehouse of more than 150 million U.S. properties.

"While negative equity continued to trend steadily downward in the first quarter, it remains stubbornly high in often-overlooked pockets of the housing market," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. "For example, we continue to see one in five properties seriously underwater in several Rust Belt cities along with Las Vegas and central Florida. Additionally, close to one-third of homes valued below $100,000 are still seriously underwater.

Number of equity rich properties increases nearly 1.4 million from year ago
The report also found that as the end of Q1 2017, there were more than 13.7 million (13,718,473) equity rich U.S. properties —  where the combined loan amount secured by the property is 50 percent or less than the estimated market value of the property —  representing 24.3 percent of all U.S. properties with a mortgage. That was down from nearly 13.9 million equity rich properties representing 24.6 percent of all properties with a mortgage in Q4 2016, but it was up by nearly 1.4 million from a year ago, when there 12.4 million equity rich properties representing 22.0 percent of all properties with a mortgage as of the end of Q1 2016.

"While I wish the number of seriously underwater homeowners had fallen even more last quarter, the longer term data tells us that they are definitely trending lower," said Matthew Gardner, chief economist with Windermere Real Estate, covering the Seattle market, which in the first quarter had more than 15,000 fewer seriously underwater properties and more than 57,000 additional equity rich properties compared to a year ago. "I'm expecting home prices in the Seattle area to perform well above average this year which should cause underwater homeowners to drop even further as we move through 2017. "

Nevada, Ohio, Illinois post highest share of seriously underwater properties
States with the highest share of seriously underwater properties as of the end of Q1 2017 were Nevada (18.9 percent); Ohio (17.1 percent); Illinois (16.5 percent); Louisiana (16.4 percent); and Missouri (14.5 percent).

Among 88 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 500,000 and sufficient home value and loan data, those with the highest share of seriously underwater properties as of the end of Q1 2017 were Cleveland, Ohio (22.9 percent); Las Vegas, Nevada (22.1 percent); Akron, Ohio (20.3 percent); Dayton, Ohio (20.3 percent); and Toledo, Ohio (20.0 percent).

Hawaii, California, New York post highest share of equity rich properties
States with the highest share of equity rich properties were Hawaii (38.4 percent); California (35.8 percent); New York (34.6 percent); Vermont (32.8 percent); and Oregon (31.3 percent).

Among 88 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 500,000 and sufficient home value and loan data, those with the highest share of equity rich properties were San Jose, California (51.3 percent); San Francisco, California (46.6 percent); Honolulu, Hawaii (39.9 percent); Los Angeles, California (39.1 percent); and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (34.2 percent);

Graphics 
Sink or Swim infographic
Underwater rates by occupancy
Underwater rates by home value
Underwater rates by flood risk

View full report and methodology.

About ATTOM Data Solutions
ATTOM Data Solutions is the curator of the ATTOM Data Warehouse, a multi-sourced national property database that blends property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, health hazards, neighborhood characteristics and other property characteristic data for more than 150 million U.S. residential and commercial properties.

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SOURCE ATTOM Data Solutions

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