Rising home prices propelled 3.5 million U.S. properties out of negative equity in one year, but the number of underwater mortgages will shrink at a slower pace in the future as price appreciation cools, according to data released today by CoreLogic and Trulia.
Approximately 6.3 million properties, or 12.7 percent of all U.S. mortgaged properties, were underwater in the first quarter of 2014, according to CoreLogic. That’s down from 6.6 million homes, or 13.4 percent of all U.S. mortgaged properties, in the fourth quarter of 2013, and 9.8 million homes, or 20.2 percent of all mortgaged properties, from a year before.
The rapid price appreciation that has lifted so many homeowners out from underwater has slowed recently. Asking prices were up 8 percent in May from a year ago, the smallest bump in 13 months but still far above the historical norm, according to the latest Trulia Price Monitor.
The home-price slowdown has tempered gains in “hyper-rebounding markets,” like Las Vegas, Sacramento and Oakland, California, Trulia noted. Such markets suffered more during the housing meltdown and typically have high rates of negative equity as a result.
The rapid price appreciation that has lifted so many homeowners out from underwater has slowed recently. Asking prices were up 8 percent in May from a year ago, the smallest bump in 13 months but still far above the historical norm, according to the latest Trulia Price Monitor.
The home-price slowdown has tempered gains in “hyper-rebounding markets,” like Las Vegas, Sacramento and Oakland, California, Trulia noted. Such markets suffered more during the housing meltdown and typically have high rates of negative equity as a result.