A new report issued today shows one of 9 mortgaged residential properties in Hartford, West Hartford, and East Hartford are in a negative equity situation. That’s where a home is worth less than its outstanding mortgage.
CoreLogic, a property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, said in its monthly report that numbers for Greater Hartford are relatively flat year over year but show a slight uptick from the previous quarter.
Its numbers show 32,598, or 11.1 percent, of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity as of the first quarter of 2016 compared with 33,082, or 11.3 percent, in the same time frame in 2015. There were 31,087 homes, or 10.6 percent, in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Nationally, the total number of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity stood at 4 million, or 8 percent of all homes with a mortgage, in the first quarter of 2016. This is a decrease a decrease of 21.5 percent year over year from 5.1 million homes, or 10.3 percent, compared with the same time period in 2015.
“In just the last four years, equity for homeowners with a mortgage has nearly doubled to $6.9 trillion,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The rapid increase in home equity reflects the improvement in home prices, dwindling distressed borrowers and increased principal repayment. These are all positive factors that will provide support to both household balance sheets and the overall economy.”
