A new analysis from CoreLogic found that 254,000 homes regained equity in the first quarter, meaning there are now 44.9 million mortgaged properties (representing 90% of the total) that are above water as of March 31.
Year-over-year equity amongst borrowers increased by $694 billion, according to the company, while the total number of underwater mortgaged residential properties dropped by approximately 1.2 million (19.4%), to 5.1 million — or 10.8% of all U.S. homes — from the same time last year.
"With the economy improving and homeowners building equity, albeit slowly, the potential exists for an increase in housing stock available for sale, which would ease the current imbalance in supply and demand. There are still about 5 million homeowners who are underwater and we estimate that a further 5% appreciation in home values across the U.S. would reduce the number of owners with negative equity by about one million," said Anand Nallathambi, the president and CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based CoreLogic.
Nevada had the highest percentage of residential properties in negative equity at 23.1%, followed by Florida (21.2%), Illinois (16.8%), Arizona (16.8%) and Rhode Island (15.7%). Combined, these five states accounted for 31.4% of mortgages in negative equity in the U.S.
