Number of Properties Seriously Underwater Fell in Q3, RealtyTrac

Irvine, CA, October 23, 2015—At of the end of the third quarter there were 6,917,673 U.S. residential properties seriously underwater, representing 12.7% of all properties with a mortgage, according to RealtyTrac’s Q3 2015 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report.

The third quarter underwater numbers were down from 7,443,580 seriously underwater homes, representing 13.3% of all homes with a mortgage in the previous quarter, and at the lowest level for both total mortgages and share of mortgages since RealtyTrac began tracking underwater data in the first quarter of 2012.

The number and share of seriously underwater homes peaked in the second quarter of 2012 at 12,824,729 seriously underwater homes representing 28.6% of all homes with a mortgage.

At of the end of the third quarter there were 10,476,259 U.S. residential properties that were equity rich—with at least 50% equity—19.2% of all properties with a mortgage. That was down from 10,963,041 equity rich properties, representing 19.6% of all properties with a mortgage in the second quarter, and down from 10,812,968 equity rich properties, representing 20.1% of all properties with a mortgage in the third quarter of 2014.