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At the end of 2015, there were 3 point 2 million underwater borrowers, representing about 6 point 5 percent of all residential mortgages nationwide. And while negative equity rates have improved overall nationally, the recovery has been imbalanced when it comes to house prices and geography, according to Black Knight Financial Services’ February 2016 Mortgage Monitor released today.
According to Black Knight, more than half of underwater homes were in the bottom 20 percent of homes by price in their respective markets. Those 3 point 2 million underwater borrowers represent approximately 126 billion dollars in first- and second-lien mortgage debt. The most extreme variance from the high-end to the low-end was found in Detroit, where lower-priced homes were 33 percent more likely to be underwater than higher-priced homes and lower-priced homes were still 35 percent lower than their 2006 peak.
Nonfarm payrolls added 215 thousand jobs in March, according to the March 2016 Employment Summary from the BLS released on Friday. The labor force participation also inched upward to 63 point 0 percent. While those numbers are positive, the March employment summary did contain a few disappointments. The average workweek held steady at 34 point 4 hours per week, and average hourly earnings—viewed by many analysts as a key to increasing homeownership—grew by only 2 point 3 percent in March.
