During Q3 2013 an additional 791,000 U. S. homes returned to positive equity as home values continue to rise, bringing the number of mortgaged residential properties with equity to 42.6 million. The number of homes remaining in negative equity fell from 7.2 million at the end of the second quarter to 6.4 million at the end of the third quarter 2013, accounting for
13 percent of all homes mortgaged. “Rising home prices continued to help homeowners regain their lost equity in the third quarter of 2013,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Fewer than 7 million homeowners are underwater, with a total mortgage debt of $1.6 trillion. Negative equity will decline even further in the coming quarters as the housing market continues to improve.” As worldpropertychannel.com informs MHProNews, ten million of the homes in the positive equity column have under 20 percent equity and may have a difficult time finding new financing.

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