PROVIDENCE – In the third quarter of 2018, 5.7 percent of all homeowners with mortgages in Rhode Island had negative equity, a 1.8 percentage-point decline year over year. The decline in negative equity, which occurs when the value of a mortgage is greater than the value of the home, was accompanied by an average equity gain of $14,257 in the state, according to CoreLogic Thursday.
Nationally, the share of negative equity mortgages, or underwater mortgages, in the United States declined 0.8 percentage points to 4.1 percent. The average U.S. homeowner gained $12,449 in equity year over year in the third quarter.
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Despite the decline in Rhode Island, Rhode Island’s share of negative equity mortgages was the seventh highest in the nation and second highest of the four New England states included in the report, ahead of only Connecticut, where 8 percent of mortgages were underwater.
The report did not include data from Maine, Vermont, Mississippi, South Dakota or West Virginia.
New England negative equity shares:
- Massachusetts: 3.7 percent, gaining an average $18,928 in equity year over year
- New Hampshire: 4.1 percent, gaining an average of $13,997 in equity year over year
- Rhode Island: 5.7 percent, gaining an average of $14,257 year over year
- Connecticut: 8 percent, losing an average of $431 in equity year over year
The states with the lowest reported underwater mortgage rates in the nation were Utah and Washington, tied at 1.5 percent. Louisiana had the highest negative equity rate at 10.9 percent.
In the Providence-Warwick-Fall River metropolitan area, there were 372,998 mortgages in the third quarter, 18,978 of which were underwater, a negative equity mortgage rate of 5.1 percent.
The full report may be viewed online, but requires free registration.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. Email him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
