Wall Street Journal: One in Six Homeowners "Under Water"

Here's some more great news for your Friday, as if this wasn't enough: one in six homeowners in the U.S. now owes more on their home than it's actually worth.

From a fascinating WSJ article:

About 75.5 million U.S. households own the homes they live in. After a housing slump that has pushed values down 30% in some areas, roughly 12 million households, or 16%, owe more than their homes are worth, according to Moody's Economy.com.

The comparable figures were roughly 4% under water in 2006 and 6% last year, says the firm's chief economist, Mark Zandi, who adds that "it is very possible that there will ultimately be more homeowners under water in this period than any time in our history."

This unfortunate trend is the likely culprit for the recent downturn in "traditional" listings (i.e. those offered by home sellers that aren't foreclosures or short sales). When your're fairly certain that selling your house will not only be difficult, but financially disastrous, you're more likely to hold off on trying to sell, no matter how much you might want to move.

It's hard to tell how dramatic the picture is locally, as the data for the Twin Cities "underwater" figure in the WSJ article simply says "NA." We can, however, take a look at the interactive map included to get a feel for the geographic picture. The entirety of Southern California and Southeastern Florida falls within in the  SCARY RED THINGS ARE TERRIBLE swatch, while Minneapolis is more like a slight orange hue things are pretty bad but could be worse vibe.

Graphic by WSJ.