Millions of U.S. homeowners still underwater on mortgages, with Chicago being one of the hardest hit markets

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute:

A staggering number of American homeowners remain underwater on their mortgages a decade after the housing bubble burst, Bloomberg News reported. Almost 4.5 million households — or 9.1 percent — owed more than their homes are worth in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to data firm Zillow, with an estimated 713,000 owing at least twice as much as their property’s value. While the percentage is declining, families in communities with stagnant property values are “trapped in their homes with no easy options to regain equity other than waiting,” said Aaron Terrazas, a senior economist at Zillow. Virginia Beach, Va., Baltimore and Chicago are the hardest hit metropolitan areas, based on effective negative interest rates, according to Zillow.