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 / Modified apr 23, 2015 9:27 a.m.

Fewer Arizona Homeowners Are 'Underwater'

Fewer people owe more on mortgages than houses are worth, while high-equity housing stays flat.
by Zachary Ziegler

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AZPM Staff

The number of Tucson homeowners who owe more on their homes than they are worth is dropping.

Numbers from Real Estate data company RealtyTrac show 16 percent of homes in Arizona are "seriously underwater," meaning the homeowner owes more than 125 percent of the home’s mortgage balance.

That’s a drop of five percentage points from this time last year.

The number of underwater homes has gone down steadily in Arizona since 2012, when 46 percent were worth less than what was owed on them.

While the percentage of underwater homes is down, another indicator of the housing market has stayed flat for the last year.

About 15 percent of Tucson homeowners are "equity rich," meaning they have a mortgage balance that is less than half of their home’s value.

MORE: Arizona, Business, Economy, News, Tucson
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