Springfield homes in negative equity decline

The number of Springfield homes with a mortgage in negative equity declined in the third quarter, according to real estate market tracker CoreLogic.

At the end of the quarter, the value of 5,152 residential properties, or 7.2 percent of the city’s market, fell below the value of the remaining amount owed on their mortgages, creating negative equity. That’s down from 5,714 properties, or 8.1 percent, in second-quarter 2014, according to a news release.

Another 1,836 residential properties, or 2.6 percent of the market, in Springfield were near negative equity in the third quarter, compared to 2,079, or 2.9 percent, in the second quarter.

In Missouri, 64,857 homes were in negative equity during the third quarter, representing 7.9 percent of residences in the state. The U.S. figure for the quarter was 5.1 million, or 10.3 percent. During the quarter, nearly 273,000 U.S. homes returned to positive equity, according to the release.

"Negative equity continued to decrease in the third quarter, as did the level of homes mired in the foreclosure process. This should hopefully translate into less friction in the housing market as we move forward," CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi said in the release. "Better fundamentals supporting homeownership in the face of higher rents should attract more first-time home buyers to the market this year and next."