The share of residential properties where the homeowner is “seriously underwater” on their mortgage increased to to 2.8% of all loans in the first quarter, an increase of 0.4% compared with the fourth quarter, a report from ATTOM shows.
ATTOM defines “seriously underwater” as properties where the loan balance exceeds the market value by at least 25%.
Although there was a slight increase in the first quarter, ATTOM notes that the underwater mortgage rate has remained relatively flat since 2020.
The top five states that had the highest rates of seriously underwater mortgages in the first quarter included Louisiana, where 10.5%, or one in every 10 mortgages are seriously underwater; followed by Kentucky (7.3%), Mississippi (6.6%), Arkansas (5.8%) and Iowa (5.7%),
States with the lowest rates of seriously underwater mortgages included New Hampshire (1.1%); Rhode Island (1.0%), Vermont (0.7%), Alaska (2.2%) and Virginia (2.0%).
Photo: Kelly Sikkema
