CoreLogic released some data last week on the number of homeowners who are “underwater” on their mortgages; that is, they owe more than their homes are worth.
The good news: New York has the lowest percentage nationwide of homeowners with mortgages who are underwater. 6.2 percent of Empire State mortgagors (that’s the borrower, not the lender) are in such a situation. Across the country, the figure is 22.7 percent.
The bad news: the fewer New Yorkers who are underwater owe a lot more. As CoreLogic reports, “New York borrowers were upside-down by an average of $129,000, the highest average in the nation, followed by other high housing cost states: Massachusetts ($120,000) [and] Connecticut (111,000).”
We’ll see how things go once the U.S. government stops support Wall Street …