Homes returning to positive equity

Rising prices helping values rebound in state, Toledo

12/18/2013
BY JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

About 791,000 more residential properties returned to a state of positive equity during the third quarter of 2013, and the total number of mortgaged residential properties with equity currently stands at 42.6 million, according to an analysis by CoreLogic, a leading residential data firm.

The analysis indicates that in the United States nearly 6.4 million homes, or 13 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, were still in negative equity at the end of the third quarter of 2013. But that was down from 7.2 million homes, or 14.7 percent in negative equity for the second quarter of 2013.

In Toledo, 21.9 percent or 26,675 of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity as of the third quarter of 2013, compared to 24.4 percent, or 30,222 properties, in the second quarter.

For Ohio, about 385,892 homes or 18 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity for the third quarter, compared with 18.8 percent in the second quarter.

Negative equity, often referred to as “underwater” or “upside down,” means that borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Negative equity can occur because of a decline in value, an increase in mortgage debt, or a combination of both.

“Rising home prices continued to help homeowners regain their lost equity in the third quarter of 2013,” Mark Fleming, CoreLogic chief economist, said. “... Negative equity will decline even further in the coming quarters as the housing market continues to improve.”