Why The Housing Market Is Still A Mess, In Two Maps

Catherine Rampell:

This first map estimates the incidence of underwater first-lien mortgages in 2000. The second shows the same measure for the fourth quarter of 2009.

In 2000, the share of borrowers who were underwater exceeded 2 percent in exactly one state: Hawaii.

Things look very different today. Just take a look at California, Florida and Nevada, where more than 20 percent of homeowners have principal mortgage balances that are greater than the estimated values of their homes, according to John Krainer and Stephen LeRoy of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Maps are courtesy of the San Francisco Fed.