Zillow: Phoenix-Area Homes Lost $36 Billion in 2010

12-15-2010 • AZcentral.com

The U.S. housing market is on track to lose $1.7 trillion in value this year, compared with $1 trillion last year. Staggering numbers. Home values in some major metro areas, including Denver, Dallas, Boston and Atlanta, dropped more this year than in 2009. Zillow estimates the overall value of metro Phoenix homes is $203.4 billion. Another national real-estate group, CoreLogic, tracks negative equity, which represents homeowners underwater. It estimates that 49 percent of all Arizona homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Nevada leads the nation for negative equity, with approximately 67 percent of the state's homeowners underwater. Due to foreclosures, the number of homeowners underwater is declining. Arizona's rate fell 1.4 percent. Nationally, 22.5 percent of all homeowners are underwater, down from 23 percent during the summer.