Negative Equity on Nearly One-Fifth of U.S. Homes

"As of December, 19.8% of mortgage holders nationwide had negative equity in their houses, according to a new report by loan-tracker First American CoreLogic. That tally, which takes into account both first and second mortgages, represents 8.3 million homeowners, 700,000 more than when the firm checked in September."

"The trend is particularly disturbing because of its implications for foreclosures. As house prices continue to decline and more people find themselves paying mortgages above the value of their properties, the risk increases that they'll start walking away in droves."

"According to the First American CoreLogic report, the states with the highest percentage of negative-equity borrowers are the usual suspects. After Nevada (55.1%) and Michigan (40%), Arizona (31.8%), Florida (30.3%) and California (29.5%) round out the top five. Those statewide averages, though, mask a lot of local variation. One pattern: exurbs, where homes are newer and loans more likely to have been signed during the bubble years, are harder hit."