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Chicago Leads in Share of Homeowners Who Can’t Afford to Move
Among all U.S. metro areas, Chicago ranks second only to Virginia Beach in the percentage of homeowners with underwater mortgages, according to Zillow. Among the nation’s 30 largest metros, it takes the lead for homeowners with either negative equity or effective negative equity—a small amount of equity that isn’t enough to cover a down payment on their next home.
Slightly more than 34% of Chicago-area homeowners with mortgages fall into this category, compared to about 24% of homeowners nationally. On the city’s South and West Sides, the proportion increases to more than 50% in some neighborhoods.
This creates a drag on the residential real estate market by limiting both the number of sales and the inventory of for-sale homes, Zillow’s Aaron Terrazas told Crain’s Chicago Business. “It weighs down the number of people who are willing to sell and able to sell their current homes,” he said.
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- ◦Economy
