Las Vegas slips to No. 2 for underwater homes

More local homeowners are surfacing for air.

A Wednesday report from California real estate research firm RealtyTrac showed Las Vegas slipping to No. 2 in the nation for its share of underwater homes, or homes worth less than the mortgage owed on them.

Among local homeowners with mortgages, 28.4 percent were seriously underwater, owing at least 25 percent more than their property’s value. Only Lakeland, Fla., had a greater share, at 28.7 percent.

Las Vegas ranked No. 1 at the end of 2014, with 30 percent of its properties seriously underwater.

The portion of seriously underwater local homes peaked at more than 70 percent in early 2012.

Nationally, 13.2 percent of homes had substantial negative equity in the first quarter, down from a high of 28.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012.

The Las Vegas Valley still topped the list of markets with homes in foreclosure that are seriously underwater. More than half — 57.6 percent — of distressed properties here had at least 25 percent negative equity. The national average was 35.1 percent.

The number of seriously underwater properties is no longer dropping quickly as median prices have leveled off, said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist. Also, homeowners who have finally resurfaced into positive equity have cashed out in recent quarters, leaving behind owners who can’t yet escape.

“Most of the seriously underwater homeowners are still stuck in their homes as short sales and other foreclosure alternatives lose momentum, tilting the national home equity scales back slightly toward a higher share of negative equity,” Blomquist said.

Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Find @J_Robison1 on Twitter.