I received several phone calls from clients this morning asking if I had seen 60 Minutes last night.  Unfortunately I missed it, but I have actually been doing some research myself looking at the percentage of mortgages that have negative equity – meaning that the owners owe more than the property is worth.  There are five states that are in really bad shape with very high percentages of mortgages that have negative equity; Nevada with 65%, Arizona with 47.9%, Florida with 44.7%, Michigan with 37.3% and California with 34.7%. 

I find this absolutely unbelievable – this means that in Nevada that 2 out of every 3 people with a mortgage have negative equity.  These statistics have a detrimental effect on the real estate market.  I feel that it important to realize that one of the first things that needs to be fixed is the real estate market as it has an effect on many other factors in this economy.

If you look at these numbers you will realize that we have not solved the foreclosure problem in the United States and it could definitely get worse before it gets better.  For purchasers, there are some great opportunities available. 

Stay tuned – tomorrow I will give you the states with the states with the lowest percentage of mortgages with negative equity.