Missouri Seeing a Tsunami of Mortgages ‘Underwater’ in Value

As a Missouri homeowner, this is disturbing on a lot of levels. The United States of America is reportedly seeing an alarming rise in underwater mortgages and Missouri is one state among those suffering the most.

Yahoo Finance shared a story yesterday about underwater mortgages being on the rise across America. If you're not familiar with the term, an underwater mortgage is one where the money owed on the property exceeds the value of the property itself.

As recently as one of the last quarters of 2023, Missouri had one of the highest percentages of "underwater mortgages" compared to other states according to ATTOM Data.

Business Insider says that the top states for underwater mortgages are in the South including Kentucky and Louisiana.

The bottom line is homeowners in Missouri especially seem to be losing equity. I have no plans to sell my Missouri home probably ever, but it's still troubling to know the value of what I'm paying for isn't going up. I also feel for those who do need to sell their home to relocate for a better job that are either unable to or have to take a loss to do it. It's a terrible situation.

The good news is the housing market always seems to be fluctuating. If you can sit tight and stay up-to-date on your payments, hopefully the supply and demand makes your home worth more soon. The only direction Missouri can go at this point is up.