SANTA CLARA COUNTY HOMEOWNERS HOLDING NEGATIVE EQUITY
Many homeowners in Santa Clara County are experiencing a problem in which they owe more money on their mortgage than their property is worth. This is referred to in real estate as being "underwater."
Real estate tracking website Zillow.com says this situation is affecting roughly 14% of those who own homes in Silicon Valley. That number is about the same as the national average. However, local homeowners appear to have things much better than the Central Valley, where nearly half of all homeowners are holding negative equity.
According to the numbers, some parts of Santa Clara County are weathering the real estate downturn better than others. In east San Jose, for example, more than half of recent home buyers had negative equity, compared to places like Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, where just 1% of recent home buyers were "underwater."
