Zillow: a third of u.s. mortgages now underwater

Contemporary homeowners owe more than their homes are worth $ 1.2 trillion, real estate data hub that Zillow reported Thursday. But the good news is: 90% pay their mortgages on time, so the negative equity is a "paper loss."

"Although it was disappointing negative equity numbers remain so high that it is important to note that negative equity is only a loss of paper for the vast majority of homeowners underwater remains," said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. "As home values continue to slowly increase and these homeowners to pay down their sponsor, they will surface again.

The number of underwater tallied in the first quarter of 2012, Zillow reports amounts to nearly 16 million or about one third of all homeowners in danger of foreclosure of the u.s. homeowners not for the vast majority, but the figure is still a risk of negative equity, Zillow says the Economist.

"Negative equity remains a problem for the housing market as a whole, and pose a risk to a recovery," said Humphries. "Not only does many bind to their homes, negative equity by homeowners unable to go as they please, but as economic growth slows and unemployment rises, more homeowners unable to timely mortgage payments increasing delinquency rates and foreclosures will, eventually."

In terms of the debt for most, many are not "deep" underwater. Nearly 40% of those who are due between 1% and 20% of what their home is worth. Regional, Nevada has the highest percentage of negative equity, with 66.9% of all homeowners with mortgages underwater. Arizona (52.3 percent), Georgia (46.8 percent), Florida (46.3 percent) and Michigan (41.7 percent) also have highest percentages of homeowners in negative equity, according to the Zillow data.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

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