More than half of mortgaged homes in St. Lucie, Martin are 'under water'

More than half of mortgaged residential properties in St. Lucie and Martin counties are “under water,” a recent report by a company that tracks home sales, price trends and foreclosures shows.

The report by California-based First American CoreLogic found that 56 percent, or 62,696, of all residential properties with a mortgage in the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area were in a negative equity position for the fourth quarter of 2009. That’s more than double the national rate of 24 percent.

The Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area encompasses St. Lucie and Martin counties. First American did not report similar data for Indian River County.

Another 3 percent, or 3,345, in the two-county area had equity of less than 5 percent.

Negative equity, often referred to as “under water” or “upside down,” means a borrower owes more on the mortgage than the home is worth. Negative equity can occur because of a decline in value, an increase in mortgage debt or a combination of both.

First American CoreLogic also reported that more than one-fourth of home mortgages in St. Lucie County are at least 90 days delinquent.

The report found that 26.6 percent of residential mortgages were severely delinquent in St. Lucie County, the third-highest rate among Florida’s 48 most-populous counties. A year ago, 19.7 percent of St. Lucie County mortgages were more than 90 days past due.

Indian River County’s mortgage delinquency rate is 16.6 percent, up from 10.3 percent a year ago. In Martin County, the rate is 11.8 percent, up from 7.1 percent.

Foreclosure rates in January in the Treasure Coast were up compared with the same period last year, according to First American CoreLogic, which analyzes data from 47 million properties with a mortgage, or more than 85 percent of all mortgages in the U.S. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of loans in some stage of the foreclosure process, from 90-day delinquencies through properties sold at auction.

St. Lucie County had the highest rate among the three counties at 15.1 percent, up from 11.7 percent a year earlier. St. Lucie County’s rate was the fourth highest in the state behind Miami-Dade (18.1 percent), Osceola (17.8) and Hendry (15.3).

Indian River County’s rate was 9.7 percent, up from 6.5 percent a year ago. Martin County’s rate was 6.9 percent, up from 3.6 percent.

The national foreclosure rate for January was 3.2 percent.

“Negative equity is a significant drag on both the housing market and on economic growth. It is driving foreclosures and decreasing mobility for millions of homeowners,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist with First American CoreLogic. “Since we expect home prices to slightly increase during 2010, negative equity will remain the dominant issue in the housing and mortgage markets for some time to come.”

Negative equity continues to be concentrated in five states: Nevada, which had the highest percentage negative equity with 70 percent of all of its mortgage properties under water, followed by Arizona (51 percent), Florida (48 percent), Michigan (39 percent) and California (35 percent).

Among those five states, the average negative equity share was 42 percent, compared with 15 percent for the remaining states.