Bloomberg: More Than 8.3 Million U.S. Mortgages Are Underwater

>8.3m U.S. mortgage holders owed more on their loans in Q4 08 than their property was worth as the recession cut home values by $2.4 trillion last year, First American CoreLogic said. An additional 2.2m borrowers will be underwater if home prices decline another 5%, First American, a Santa Ana, California-based seller of mortgage and economic data, said in a report today. Households with negative equity or near it account for 1/4 of all mortgage holders. Prices in 20 U.S. cities fell 18.5% in December from a year earlier, the fastest drop on record, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. U.S. foreclosure filings exceeded 250,000 for the 10th straight month in January, RealtyTrac Inc. reported. An average of 230,000 borrowers a month slid to negative equity in Q4 08, First American said.