5.6 percent of LA foreclosures seriously underwater, says RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac today released its Year-End 2015 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. The report found that at the end of 2015, seriously underwater properties were down 481,292 from 6.9 million in the third quarter and 616,189 from 7.1 million from a year prior.

• Closing out 2015, 6.4 million (6,436,381) U.S. homes were seriously underwater– about 25 percent were underwater– representing 11.5 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage
• There were 12.6 million (12,621,274) U.S. homes that were equity rich, or at least 50 percent equity. This represents 22.5 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage.
• At of the end of 2015, 49.7 percent of all homes in foreclosure had some equity, marking the highest percentage since Q3 2013– when RealtyTrac began tracking.
  • This is up from 43.3 percent of all homes in foreclosure with equity at the end of the third quarter of 2015.
  • At the end of 2014, 34.6 percent of all homes in foreclosure with equity.

In Los Angeles, 5.6 percent of foreclosed homes are seriously underwater, which is about 136,454 in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA. RealtyTrac reported 877,997 homeowners who are equity rich, or 35.8 percent.

Why switching websites is more costly than you think

Shiny new tools appeal, but they have hidden costs READ MORE

In Los Angeles County, RealtyTrac reported of the 3,452,901 properties, about 6.2 percent are seriously underwater.

On a state-wide basis, California had 33.3 percent of foreclosures with equity and 7.8 percent of foreclosures are seriously underwater.