About the map: Negative equity is calculated by matching the estimated value of a home to all outstanding mortgage debt and lines of credit associated with the home, including home equity lines of credit and home equity loans, supplied by TransUnion, a global leader in credit and information management. All personally identifying information ("PII") is removed from the data by TransUnion before delivery to Zillow. The counties and ZIP codes in the highest percentiles (1st, 5th, 10th and 20th percentiles) of negative equity are marked with a badge. Negative equity is calculated for owner-occupied homes with mortgages for more than 800 metros, 2,300 counties, and 22,900 ZIP codes. This map will be updated quarterly. Contact press@zillow.com for additional data points and information including negative equity by state, metro, county, and ZIP code, as well as national data.

About the Zillow Negative Report: The Zillow Negative Equity Report is produced on a quarterly basis and captures the percent of homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth from the national level down to the ZIP code level. Negative equity is commonly referred to as being underwater. The report also covers the delinquency rates of underwater mortgagees and the amount of equity among all mortgage holders.

Zillow Q4 2012 Negative Equity Report Summary: According to the fourth quarter Zillow Negative Equity Report, 27.5 percent of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage are underwater. This is down from 31.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. Approximately 13.8 million homeowners with a mortgage were in negative equity, or “underwater,” at the end of the fourth quarter, owing more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. That was down from 15.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. American homeowners with a mortgage were collectively underwater by more than $1 trillion at the end of 2012. More than 1.9 million American homeowners with a mortgage were freed from negative equity over the course of 2012, and Zillow expects at least another roughly one million will be freed in 2013. Much of the decline in negative equity in 2012 can be attributed to U.S. home values rising 5.9 percent in 2012 compared to 2011, to a median value of $157,400 at year’s end, according to the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) – as home values rise, negative equity rates tend to fall. Zillow expects home values to continue rising another 3.3 percent nationwide through December 2013, bringing more homeowners back above water.

• Important links:
• Q4 2012 Negative Equity Blog Post
• Q4 2012 Negative Equity Report – Research Brief
• Official Zillow Q4 2012 Press Release