Home >> News >> Data >> CoreLogic Survey Shows Moderately Positive Q2 Data
Print This Post Print This Post

CoreLogic Survey Shows Moderately Positive Q2 Data

""CoreLogic"":http://www.corelogic.com/ has released second-quarter numbers that shed some positive light on struggling markets. The company's most recent survey indicates that negative equity is on the decline in some of the most affected areas, and additional results show that many homeowners with ""underwater"" mortgages are paying higher interest rates on those loans.

[IMAGE]

Borrowers in negative equity at the close of the second quarter totaled 10.9 million, for a market share of 22.5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage. The data represents a slight downward trend from first-quarter statistics that demonstrated a 22.7 percent accumulation of borrowers in negative equity.

Consumers in near-negative equity, meaning loans with less than 5 percent equity accrued, included an additional 2.4 million borrowers. When combined, negative equity and near-negative equity loans accounted for 27.5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage in the U.S.

CoreLogic's data also revealed that more than three-quarters of negative equity borrowers are currently paying above-market interest on their mortgage loans. Specifically, consumers who are the most distressed, those with a loan-to-value ration of 125 percent or more,

[COLUMN_BREAK]

are being hit the hardest by higher interest rates; around 40 percent of borrowers in that category are paying interest of greater than 6 percent, compared to only 17 percent of non-negative borrowers. CoreLogic's data shows that nearly 28 million mortgages in the country are eligible for refinance due to inflated interest rates.

By state, the most compromised real estate markets fared the most favorably during the second-quarter in terms of negative equity statistics. Nevada's year-over-year negative equity numbers have dropped by 8 percent, but the state is still leading the nation in ""upside down"" mortgages with 60 percent of its homeowners with a mortgage in negative equity to end the quarter.

Following Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and California continue to top the list of states with the greatest numbers of negative equity borrowers. The stagnant real estate market in those areas continues to limit recovery, according to CoreLogic.

The federal homebuyer tax credit that expired last year led to a spike in high loan-to-value mortgages, helping propel sales and increase FHA lending; additionally, the tax credit initiative raised the overall market share of high loan-to-value mortgages to 18 percent, up from 13 percent, in only six months during 2009 and 2010.

CoreLogic's chief economist, Mark Fleming, said ""High negative equity is holding back refinancing and sales activity and is a major impediment to the housing market recovery. The hardest hit markets have improved over the last year, primarily as a result of foreclosures. But nationally, the level of mortgage debt remains high relative to home prices.""

To conduct its most recent survey, CoreLogic looks at more than 48 million properties that account for 85 percent of all mortgages in the U.S. Using public record data complied with its automated valuation platforms, CoreLogic combined the respective properties estimated value and outstanding debt to develop its second-quarter statistics.

About Author: Abby Gregory

x

Check Also

Survey: Homeownership Remains Elusive for Baby Boomer Renters

A recent look into housing affordability by NeighborWorks America has found that three in five long-term baby boomer renters feel homeownership remains unattainable.