According to the Q1 2017 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report from ATTOM Data Solutions, nearly 5.5 million U.S. properties are seriously underwater, which represents almost 10 percent of all mortgages. This is up from 5.4 million in Q4, but down from 6.7 million this time last year.
However, equity-rich properties are on the rise. In Q1 2017, ATTOM Data Solutions found that there were more than 13.7 million equity-rich U.S. properties, which is 24.3 percent of all mortgages. That is down from 13.9 million Q4 2016, but up from 12.4 million in Q1 2016.
In Houston, the ZIP code with the highest percentage of seriously underwater homes was 77028 with 20.2 percent. The ZIP code with the highest percentage of equity rich properties was 77023 with 59.7 percent.
Source: ATTOM Data Solutions
The report defines “seriously underwater” as the homeowner owing at least 25 percent more than the estimated home market value. An equity-rich property is where the homeowner had at least 50 percent equity.
“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.
The percentage of seriously underwater properties nationwide by home value are:
- $100,000 or less: 8.0 percent
- $100,000 to $300,000: 9.3 percent
- $300,000 to $750,000: 5.0 percent
- $750,000 and above: 4.8 percent
The percentage of equity-rich properties nationwide by home value are:
- $100,000 or less: 15.4 percent
- $100,000 to $300,000: 20.8 percent
- $300,000 to $750,000: 29.5 percent
- $750,000 and above: 7.0 percent