Mortgages Cost More Than Home Value For 1 in 4

Nearly a quarter of all homeowners are sinking under a mortgage that is bigger than the value of their home.

Even Worse, that figure could rise to as much as 30% by the middle of next year as job losses and foreclosures climb.

In the city, those who owe more on mortgages than their homes are worth climbed to 12.5% in the second quarter from 10.3% in the first three months of the year.

Homeowners are being hurt by price declines. The estimated median value for single-family homes slid 12% from a year earlier in the 10th consecutive quarterly decrease.

About 25 million homes, or 48% of mortgaged properties, will be underwater as prices drop through the first quarter of 2011, analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote in a report released recently.