The number of homes with significant negative equity diminished in the fourth quarter, while the count with significant equity grew.
There were 9,274,126 residential properties last month that were worth at least 25 percent less than the loans against them. The share worked out to 19 percent of all financed properties.
That was a healthy improvement from the end of the third quarter, when 10.7 million properties were considered deeply underwater.
Similar progress has been since January 2013, when there were 10.9 million properties in the category.
The figures were delivered Thursday by RealtyTrac.
The number of deeply underwater properties topped out at 12.8 million in May 2012.
With 38 percent of properties considered deeply underwater, Nevada had the highest share. The Silver State’s standing was driven by Las Vegas’ 41 percent share — the worst of any metropolitan statistical area.
Florida followed with just over a third of properties falling in the category. Orlando, Tampa and Miami were among the five-worst MSAs.
In Illinois, nearly a third of properties were deeply underwater. In just the Chicago MSA, the share was exactly a third.
Michigan’s rate was 31 percent thanks to a 35 percent rate in the Detroit MSA.
The No. 5 state was Missouri, where the share was 28 percent.
Looking just at properties in the process of foreclosure, 239,470 U.S. properties were deeply underwater last month, fewer than the 299,773 in September.
On the flip side, there were 9.1 million properties with at least 50 percent equity during December, improving from 7.4 million in September.
The U.S. equity rich share was 18 percent.
Hawaii’s 36 percent equity-rich share was the highest of any state. New York’s one-third share followed, then California’s 26 percent, Montana’s 24 percent and Maine’s 24 percent.
Three California MSAs — San Jose, San Francisco and Los Angeles — were among the top-five equity rich areas.
