More than one in five homeowners underwater: Zillow

[Wednesdays]

(C&P’ed from SMW--credit goes to ozymandius for the original find)



NEW YORK (Reuters) – Home values in the United States extended their fall in the first quarter, with more than one in five homeowners now owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, real estate website Zillow.com said on Wednesday.

U.S. home values posted a year-over-year decline of 14.2 percent to a Zillow Home Value Index of $182,378, resulting in a total 21.8 percent drop since the market peaked in 2006, according to Zillow's first-quarter Real Estate Market Reports, which encompass 161 metropolitan areas and cover the value changes in all homes, not just homes that have recently sold.

U.S. homes lost $704 billion in value during the first quarter and have depreciated $3.8 trillion in the past 12 months, according to analysis of the reports.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090506/ts_nm/us_usa_economy_housing

[FarCenter]

1. It is more like one in three with mortgages are underwater

One in five homeowners have a mortgage that is underwater.

40% of homeowners have no mortgage.

Therefore, one in three of homeowners who have a mortgage are underwater.

[Malikshah]

2. I regret ever signing up for Zillow-- they never calculate the upgrades

It's a glorified pencil search that they use; useless in the real world, but hey, folks are lazy. Not much different than the other appraisers here in South Florida...

[laureloak]

3. There's always the risk of an investment losing value. n/t