In what could be another sign that the housing crisis is far from over, the percent of mortgage holders who are underwater on their homes continued to rise in the third quarter–and some say it could be another eight to 10 months before that trend turns around.
In the U.S., 23.2% of U.S. mortgage holders were underwater, owing more money than the house is worth. That’s up from 21.7% from a year ago, according to Q03 data out Wednesday from Zillow.com.
Roughly 13.9 million homes now have negative equity. Many of these homes could end up in foreclosure should borrowers give up making payments on homes that aren’t worth what they owe—let alone building equity.
Full story: Percentage of Underwater Borrowers Up