Majority of Solano mortgages underwater
23.05.12
Well-deserved over half of all homes with a mortgage in Solano County are underwater, according to an industry contemplation released this week.
And that's the good news.
In the Vallejo-Fairfield Metropolitan Statistical Square, 51.1 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage -- or 46,575 properties -- were in argumentative equity for the third quarter of 2011. That compares to 52.9 percent, or 48,263 properties, the prior to quarter.
The number of residential properties in near negative equity -- another 4.9 percent, or 4,503 homes -- remained unchanged from the year's go along with quarter. This means about 56 percent of Solano County homeowners are underwater or are wellnigh so, with less than 5 percent equity.
This doesn't surprise incoming Solano Association of Realtors President Paul Winders of Around Municipality Realty. Saying he was speaking only as a Realtor, Winders credits the improvement to the reckon of local troubled mortgages that sold for a loss or were foreclosed on in recent months.
"So many were gruff sold or foreclosed and therefore fell off the statistics, and a lot of new owners and investors bought at the new, farther down price and may now have some equity," Winders said. "It's a good sign and means the market is adjusting."
Though experts have predicted a heartfelt estate turnaround for years, Winders said he believes that locally the bottom has been reached and things may be heading up.
"I imagine it's beginning to turn up, especially the low end -- the under $175,000 range, single kinsfolk homes," he said. "The higher end, like the Vista in Vallejo and Waters End in Benicia and some of the newer homes off Redwood (Avenue) and Ascot (Parkway), I'm not seeing an upward surge in prices at this point."
Winders also said he believes most placid sales in Solano County are being made to owner/occupants, not investors, due in part to incentives banks are sacrifice in closing cost credits and in setting aside a time period before oblation to properties to investors.
Though an improvement locally, the Vallejo-Fairfield figures keep it among the hardest hit and slowest to convalesce from the nationwide housing crisis.
According to industry analyst firm CoreLogic, 10.7 million, or 22.1 percent, of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide were in annulling equity at the end of the third quarter. This is down slightly from 10.9 million, or 22.5 percent, in the second habitation. Add this to the 2.4 million borrowers at near-negative equity, and it accounts for some 27.1 percent off all mortgaged residential properties. That's down minor extent from 27.5 in the previous quarter.
Negative equity, or being "underwater" or "upside-down," means borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are significance.
"Although slightly down, negative equity remains very high and renders many borrowers vulnerable when refusing economic shocks occur, such as job loss or illness," CoreLogic chief economist End Fleming said in a statement. "The nearly $700 billion mortgage debt menace has touched many corners of the market, and this overhang is holding back the recovery of the housing vend and broader economy."
Contact staff writer Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or rzrihen@timesheraldonline.com.
New valid estate industry report highlights:
* California, which has been in the top five for negative equity since tracking started in 2009, was surpassed in the year's third cantonment by Georgia, which entered the top five for the first time.
* Nevada now has the highest negative equity percentage with 58 percent of all of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed by Arizona (47 percent) and Florida (44 percent). The top five is rounded out by Michigan (35 percent) and Georgia (30 percent).
* There are 8.6 million stodgy loans in a negative equity position that have an average mortgage balance of $272,000 and are underwater by an ordinary of $70,000.
* There are 1.5 million FHA loans in a negative equity position that have an average mortgage balance of $170,000 and are underwater by an undistinguished of $26,000.
Source: Vallejo Times-Herald
Set-back Mortgages enable homeowners over age 62 to borrow against the equity in their homes without having to deal in the home, give up title, or take on a new monthly mortgage payment. The home must be the borrower's make residence, and the loan does
