In an analysis released today, approximately 850,000 more residential properties returned to a state of positive equity in the first quarter of 2013; however, about 20 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage are still in negative equity — with Nevada and Florida having the greatest ratio of properties still in the red.
Nevada has about 45 percent of mortgaged properties in negative equity, followed by Florida at 38 percent.ย The top five states, also including Michigan, Arizona and Georgia, together account for one-third of negative equity in the United States.
โThe impressive home price gains of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 have had a big impact on the distribution of residential home equity,โ said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, who conducted the analysis. โDuring the past year, 1.7 million borrowers have regained positive equity. We expect the pent-up supply that falling negative equity releases will moderate price gains in many of the fast-appreciating markets this spring.โ
But maybe not so fast for Florida, home to many of the metro areas with the highest percent of negative equity properties. At the end of 2012, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area has the highest percent of underwater properties in the nation at 44 percent, followed by Miami-Kendall at 41 percent.
