With home prices on the rise, fewer homeowners owe more than their houses were worth. A new CoreLogic report says that during the first quarter one in 10 Twin Citians, or 12.7 percent of all properties with a mortgage nationwide, were upside down on their mortgage. That's about 6.3 million homes compared to 6.6 million homes, or 13.4 percent, during the previous quarter. As a year-over-year comparison, the negative equity share was 20.2 percent, or 9.8 million homes, last year.
"Prices continue to rise across most of the country and significantly fewer borrowers are underwater today compared to last year," said Anand Nallathambi, said CoreLogic's president and CEO. "An additional rise in home prices of 5 percent, which we are projecting will occur over the next 12 months, will lift another 1.2 million properties out of the negative equity trap."
