ATTOM’s 2019 Year-End U.S. Home Equity and Underwater Report released this week stated that one in four or nearly 27 percent of the 54.5 million mortgaged homes in the U.S. were considered equity-rich in Q4 2019, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loans secured by those properties was 50 percent or less of their estimated market value.
The report also noted that one in 16 or just over 6 percent of all U.S. properties with a mortgage in Q4 were considered seriously underwater, with a combined estimated balance of loans secured by the property at least 25 percent more than the property’s estimated market value.
Among the other key findings featured in ATTOM’s annual year-end home equity and underwater report were the top states, metro areas and counties with the highest shares of equity rich properties in the fourth quarter. The top states were all in the Northeast and West regions, led by California (42.8 percent equity-rich), Vermont (39.2 percent), Hawaii (38.8 percent), Washington (35.4 percent) and New York (35.1 percent).
The top metro areas cited in ATTOM’s analysis with the highest shares of equity-rich properties in Q4 2019 were San Jose, CA (65.9 percent equity-rich); San Francisco, CA (57.5 percent); Los Angeles, CA (47.8 percent); Santa Rosa, CA (45.9 percent) and Honolulu, HI (39.3 percent).
Drilling down to the zip code level, there were 451 zip codes where at least half of all properties with a mortgage were equity rich in the fourth quarter. The top 25 were all in California, with most in the San Francisco Bay area, led by zip codes 94116 in San Francisco (82.6 percent equity-rich), 94040 in Mountain View (81.7 percent), 94122 in San Francisco (80.6 percent), 94112 in San Francisco (80.1 percent) and 94087 in Sunnyvale (79.5 percent).
Here are the other ZIPS that make up the top 10 with the highest shares of equity rich properties: 94030 in Millbrae, CA (78.9 percent); 94063 in Redwood City, CA (78.4 percent); 94134 in San Francisco, CA (77.9 percent); 94132 in San Francisco, CA (77.8 percent); and 94121 in San Francisco, CA (77.2 percent).
Also according to ATTOM’s year-end 2019 home equity and underwater report, the top 10 states with the highest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the fourth quarter of 2019 were all in the South and Midwest, led by Louisiana (16.8 percent seriously underwater), Mississippi (16.0 percent), West Virginia (13.9 percent), Iowa (13.5 percent) and Arkansas (12.9 percent).
At the metro area level, among those with the highest share of mortgages that were seriously underwater included Youngstown, OH (16.2 percent); Baton Rouge, LA (15.9 percent); Scranton, PA (15 percent); Cleveland, OH (13.7 percent) and Akron, OH (13.4 percent).
Among 8,262 U.S. zip codes with at least 2,000 properties with mortgages in the fourth quarter, there were 149 zip codes where at least a quarter of all properties with a mortgage were seriously underwater. The largest number of those zip codes were in the Cleveland, OH; Philadelphia, PA; Milwaukee, WI; Rockford, IL, and St. Louis, MO, metropolitan statistical areas.
The top five zip codes with the highest share of seriously underwater properties were 71446 in Leesville, LA (65.7 percent seriously underwater); 44110 in Cleveland, OH (59.6 percent); 08611 in Trenton, NJ (58.7 percent); 53206 in Milwaukee, WI (58.6 percent) and 44105 in Cleveland, OH (54.2 percent).
Here are the other ZIPS rounding out the top 10 with the highest shares of seriously underwater properties: 08104 in Camden, NJ (50.9 percent); 44108 in Cleveland, OH (49.6 percent); 63137 in Saint Louis, MO (48.6 percent); 60426 in Harvey, IL (48.6 percent); and 45406 in Dayton, OH (48.0 percent).
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