Nearly 10 million U.S. households remain stuck in homes worth less than their mortgage and a similar number have so little equity they can't meet the expenses of selling a home, the Wall Street Journal reported today. At the end of the first quarter, nearly 18.8 percent of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage — 9.7 million households — were "underwater" on their mortgage, according to a report scheduled for release today by real estate information site Zillow Inc. While that is an improvement from 19.4 percent at the end of last year and a peak of 31.4 percent 2012, those figures understate the problem. In addition to the homeowners who are underwater, roughly 10 million households have 20 percent or less equity in their homes, which makes it difficult for them to sell their homes without dipping into their savings. Most move-up homeowners typically use their home equity to cover broker fees, closing costs and a down payment for their next home.
