Ten percent of Seattle owners still remain ‘under water’

Eight years after the housing crash, 10 percent of all Seattle-area homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their home is worth while 25 percent have less than 20 percent equity in their home and would have difficulty in selling and buying another, according to a new study by Zillow.

Almost a million fewer U.S. homeowners were “under water” in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year. The improving rate means those people may be able to sell or refinance their homes before mortgage interest rates rise, as they are expected to do in the coming weeks.

“Negative equity has become almost an afterthought in a handful of the nation’s hottest markets, but is holding back the recovery in dozens of large markets nationwide,” said Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s chief economist. “Despite steady declines in negative equity, many cities are still facing tight inventory, especially among entry-level homes. Those homes that are available are often not in demand and stay on the market for a long time. This can be extremely frustrating for buyers and sellers alike, as they come face to face with the difficult side effects of negative equity.”

Las Vegas has had the highest negative equity rate in the country for the past four and a half years, and Kansas City and Cleveland, with 16.6 and 16.8 percent negative equity respectively, are not far behind. San Francisco and San Jose are the only large markets where less than five percent of homeowners are underwater.