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Real estate website Zillow released a quarterly data report today that showed nearly 29% of mortgaged homes are underwater.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term “underwater,” it simply means that the homeowner owes more on their loans than what the value of their home is.

This is up 1.8 percent from last quarter’s report of 26.8 percent of homeowners being underwater.  Home values have declined 0.2 percent from the second quarter and 4.4 percent over the past year.

The report explains that the rising percentage of homes that are underwater is due to how long the foreclosure sale process can be and not much to do with the home value fluctuations.

Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look much brighter.  Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said, “We’re in uncharted waters.  More than one in four homes [are] underwater and about 9 percent unemployment is a recipe for more foreclosures.”

Furthermore, confidence in home buying is astonishingly low right now.  A survey conducted by the Ohio-based Home Value Insurance Co. found that one-third of respondents viewed buying a home as risky and 18 percent said that they were unsure whether or not they would encourage a younger person to buy a home.  That is with mortgage rates being at an all-time low.

Are you underwater on your home?  If you are, it might not be a bad time to speak with one of our Home Loan Experts to see if refinancing your mortgage can help you out!

To read more about the Zillow report, click here.

Eric Mally writes for Quicken Loans and loves that it’s one of the most amazing places to work.  Check out the Quicken Loans YouTube page and learn more about what it’s like to work at QL

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