Portland Stays Afloat on their Mortgages more than most

house-foreclosure-carousel-750xx315-177-0-51When it comes to staying above water in terms of their mortgages, Portlanders are staying afloat much more than homeowners in other metro regions across the country.

According to a new report from real estate firm Zillow, Portland has the third-lowest rate of negative equity in the United States. Negative equity is when a homeowner owes more on a mortgage than the home is worth.

The negative equity rate in Portland was 5.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Zillow. That’s down from 5.6 percent at the end of 2015 and from 9.3 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

Zillow noted that only San Francisco and San Jose had lower rates of negative equity than Portland. Those cities were at 4.4 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Nationally, the negative equity rate fell to 12.7 percent in the first quarter, down from 15.4 percent in the same quarter of 2015. The rate hit an all-time high of 31.4 percent in 2012.

According to Zillow, Chicago is the largest housing market with the highest rate of negative equity, with just over 20 percent of homeowners underwater.

The firm noted that the overall drop in negative equity is being driving by “a consistent recovery in home values.”

The original article can be found HERE on the Portland Business Journal website.

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