Toledo mortgage outlook sinking

Associated Press

toledo

The percentage of Toledo-area homeowners who are “seriously underwater” on their mortgages has risen in the past year and is much higher than the national average, according to California-based RealtyTrac.

The real-estate data company defined “seriously underwater” as borrowers who had a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 125 percent or more — meaning they owed at least 25 percent more on their mortgages than the properties are worth.

In Toledo, 37 percent of borrowers were seriously underwater, the company said. Last September, it was 31 percent, Realty Trac said.

The national average is 23 percent. The average in Ohio is 31 percent, the sixth- highest behind Nevada, Illinois, Florida, Michigan and Rhode Island.

Among Ohio’s largest cities, Toledo’s percentage is lower than the Akron metropolitan area (39 percent), but higher than Cleveland (36 percent), Dayton (35 percent), Youngstown (29 percent), Columbus (27 percent), and Cincinnati (26 percent).

The cities with the highest percentages are Las Vegas (49 percent), Orlando (43 percent), Tampa- St. Petersburg (43 percent), and Detroit (42 percent).

There was positive news.

RealtyTrac said the number of properties nationwide that had an LTV ratio of at least 125 percent has fallen to 10.7 million — down from 11.3 million in May and 12.5 million in September 2012.

An increasing number of properties had an LTV ratio of 90 to 110 percent, meaning that they have between 10 percent positive equity and 10 percent negative equity.