120,000 Baltimore Area Homes Underwater

The number of homeowners underwater on their mortgages has -- at least temporarily -- stabilized at 120,000 in the Baltimore metro area, according to new estimates from CoreLogic.

The real estate data company says that amounts to 19 percent of all mortgaged homes in the first three months of this year, essentially the same as at the end of last year. Last spring, by contrast, just over 100,000 homeowners owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth, the company said.

Home prices have continued to drop since the beginning of the year, though, so the next underwater figure might show a return to the upward climb. (About 33,000 Baltimore-area homes were on the edge of negative equity in the first three months of the year, CoreLogic says.)

Maryland remains in the top 10 for its share of underwater borrowers, ranking 8th with just under 24 percent. But the hardest-hit states are much worse off.

Nevada is top of the heap -- more than 60 percent of its mortgaged homes are worth less than the loans on them, CoreLogic estimates.

So how much money are we talking about? The average underwater American is upside down to the tune of $65,000, about the same as the average underwater Marylander.

By the way, it's getting really lonely shouting into the void, which is what we bloggers are having to do while the commenting system is down due to spammers. If you email your comments to jhopkins(at)baltsun.com, I'll post a round-up with links to any relevant posts. Let me know how you'd like to be identified.

from Jamie Smith Hopkins @ the Baltimore Sun