The owners of more than half of the homes in Hartford owe more on their mortgages than the properties are worth, according to a study published Thursday by the University of California, Berkeley.
The 56 percent underwater rate, based on Zillow data as of the end of 2013, places Hartford squarely at the top of the ranking, ahead of cities like Newark, N.J., and Detroit, Mich.
The study found that more than a third of the 100 hardest-hit cities have median household incomes below $40,000. Hartford’s is just under $29,000.
Underwater homeowners are as much as 200 percent more likely to default on their mortgages than those with positive equity, the study noted, citing 2011 research by Ocwen Financial.
Three of Hartford’s zip codes made the top 100 list for the highest rates. Zillow data covers approximately 22,000 of the 30,000 zip codes in the country.
Zip code 06114 — which includes Franklin, Wethersfield and Maple avenues — ranked 21st with 63 percent of homes underwater, 06106 ranked 29th at 61 percent, and 06112 ranked 73rd with 54 percent.
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