A new study reveals that a lot of Americans have very little equity in their homes – millions are “upside down” and actually owe more than their properties are worth.

The Seattle Times reports:

“First American CoreLogic’s study examined equity as of Sept. 30. It found that 18 percent of all mortgaged properties in the United States were under water. That reflects 7.6 million mortgages…

About 2.1 million mortgages…had so little equity they were within 5 percent of being under water.

The national numbers are heavily skewed by the housing ills of six states: Nevada, where almost half of all mortgage holders are under water, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, California and Georgia.”

Those are pretty sobering statistics, considering that the majority of homeowners make a down payment around 20%. No wonder lenders are becoming less inclined to offer home equity lines of credit.

See Also:

How to Negotiate the Best HELOC Rates and Terms

Don’t Rely on a Home Equity Line to Save You During the Crisis

Why Are Qualified Home Equity Borrowers Suffering?

Tags | Heloc, home equity, home equity line of credit, mortgage crisis