The folks over at Zillow.com reported that the number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth actually decreased in the third quarter. Here is an excerpt from the CNNmoney.com story on the subject:
Fewer people are underwater on their mortgages — further evidence that the real estate free-fall may be slowing.
Just 21% of all single-family homeowners owe more on their mortgage balances than their homes are worth, according to a third quarter residential real estate report from Zillow.com. That is down from 23% at the end of the second quarter.
That is good news because it should help reduce the number of homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure. Being underwater is one of the two factors that lead to foreclosure, the other being, of course, not having enough income to make the monthly payments.
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But there’s a second, less-positive factor that contributed to the reduction in underwater borrowers: foreclosures. So many people have already lost their homes that the ranks of those underwater is slowly dwindling.
And that highlights one of the most serious concerns that housing markets currently face. “Foreclosure rates,” said Humphries, “are ramping up again.”