Underwater Homes: Top 10 States With the Most Negative-Equity Mortgages

Underwater mortgages have plagued the housing market since the housing bubble burst in 2006. Rapidly declining prices meant that homeowners started to owe more on their mortgages than their homes were worth. This can lead to short sales, foreclosures, and a serious blow to a households' net worth.

CoreLogic released its report on underwater mortgages this month, revealing that the number of mortgages with negative equity nationwide declined from 25.2 percent of all mortgages at the end of 2011 to 23.7 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2012. Though it appears that the overall housing market is slowly improving, various local markets are still deep in the red.

24/7 Wall St. put together the following list of the top 10 states with the highest percentages of underwater mortgages.

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