Zillow: Many in area owe more than home is worth

http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1837044.html

Home values in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties dropped by $7.3 billion in the first three months of 2009 and have lost $40 billion in the past year, according to online real estate evaluator Zillow.com.

The Seattle firm estimates that 35.4 percent of homeowners in the four-county area now owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

That’s up from 33.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to Zillow.

It’s worst for those who bought in the past five years. Zillow said 68 percent of those Sacramento-area homeowners have negative equity.

In Yuba and Sutter counties, 78 percent of those who bought in the past five years owe more than their homes are worth, Zillow reported.

– Jim Wasserman