“Underwater” homeowners rise to 28%-Zillow
There goes the housing market….Homeowners in negative equity are making new highs. Anybody believing the housing rebound should reconsider. All the QE seems to have saved some billionare’s SPX exposure, but Average Joe is still stuck with negative equity. It’s these guys that are supposed to consume us out of the misery.
“More than 28 percent of U.S. homeowners owed more than their properties were worth in the first quarter as values fell the most since 2008, Zillow Inc. said today.
Homeowners with negative equity increased from 22 percent a year earlier as home prices slumped 8.2 percent over the past 12 months, the Seattle-based company said. About 27 percent of homes were “underwater” in the fourth quarter, according to Zillow, which runs a website with property-value estimates and real-estate listings.
Home prices fell 3 percent in the first quarter and will drop as much as 9 percent this year as foreclosures spread and unemployment remains high, Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries said. Prices won’t find a floor until 2012, he said.” (Zillow)