"Underwater" homeowners in New York State owned an average of $129,007 more on their homes than the homes were valued during the first quarter, a report by CoreLogic Inc. found, according to an article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal buy Robbie Whelan.
The national "underwater" average, the article continued, was $65,000.
"The total percentage of underwater borrowers in New York is smaller than for the nation as a whole and substantially lower than in states that were hit hardest by the housing downtown, including Florida, Nevada and Arizona....Nationwide, 22.7 percent were underwater. In New York, just 6.2 percent of borrowers were underwater. Price declines, the primary culprit for negative equity, were less pernicious in New York than in the hardest hit states. But because New York homes prices are higher than in most states - driven partly by the multi-million-dollar price tags in parts of Manhattan, Westchester and Long Island - even a small percentage price decline can result in a substantial level of negative equity," the article said.
The article said that the report found that Connecticut homeowners had an average negative equity of $111,430 and in New Jersey the average level was $77,474.
The largest average amount of negative equity found in the report was $1.35 million for owners of Manhattan condominiums and single-family homes, the article said, noting that the numbers did not include co-ops that are "typically" far less "underwater than condos."
The report said that "in addition to high condo prices during the boom and fairly steep price declines during the crash, many New Yorkers loaded up on debt by taking out second mortgages," the article said, adding that "the state has the highest average number of mortgages per property, at 1.47, of any state in the country."
The national "underwater" average, the article continued, was $65,000.
"The total percentage of underwater borrowers in New York is smaller than for the nation as a whole and substantially lower than in states that were hit hardest by the housing downtown, including Florida, Nevada and Arizona....Nationwide, 22.7 percent were underwater. In New York, just 6.2 percent of borrowers were underwater. Price declines, the primary culprit for negative equity, were less pernicious in New York than in the hardest hit states. But because New York homes prices are higher than in most states - driven partly by the multi-million-dollar price tags in parts of Manhattan, Westchester and Long Island - even a small percentage price decline can result in a substantial level of negative equity," the article said.
The article said that the report found that Connecticut homeowners had an average negative equity of $111,430 and in New Jersey the average level was $77,474.
The largest average amount of negative equity found in the report was $1.35 million for owners of Manhattan condominiums and single-family homes, the article said, noting that the numbers did not include co-ops that are "typically" far less "underwater than condos."
The report said that "in addition to high condo prices during the boom and fairly steep price declines during the crash, many New Yorkers loaded up on debt by taking out second mortgages," the article said, adding that "the state has the highest average number of mortgages per property, at 1.47, of any state in the country."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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