Home / Media / DS News Webcast: Friday 9/4/2015
Print This Post Print This Post

DS News Webcast: Friday 9/4/2015

The negative equity rate on U.S. single-family homes fell below 15 percent during Q2, totaling approximately 7.4 million homes at the end of the quarter—slightly less than half the total of upside down homes at the worst of the crisis, according to the Zillow Q2 2015 Negative Equity report released Thursday. In the first half of 2015, strong appreciation for the least valuable third of homes fueled the continued decline of the nation's overall negative equity rate.

A lingering effect of the financial crisis nearly seven years later, the number of borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth in the United States totaled 15 million at their peak. That number has been reduced to slightly below half by many factors, including foreclosures, short sales, and rapidly rising home values. The three markets with the highest negative equity rates among single-family homes for Q2 were Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Chicago.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently revived three lawsuits that were brought about by the City of Miami, accusing Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup of discriminatory and predatory mortgage lending practices to minority borrowers. The case was dismissed in July 2014. The lawsuits claim the conduct of the banks had a disparate impact on minority borrowers which resulted in a disproportionate number of foreclosures on properties owned by minorities, which resulted in the city devoting more resourced toward combating blight in the affected neighborhoods.

About Author: Jordan Funderburk

x

Check Also

REO Agents to Share Some Scares

An upcoming webinar presented by Five Star’s FORCE group will explore a number of horror stories told by experienced REO agents, and the lessons learned from these perilous tales.