50+% Of 2006 Homebuyers Now Underwater, Says Report

MarketWatch.com reports:

• Home values in the first quarter of 2008 fell 1.6 percent from the fourth quarter and 7.7 percent from the year-ago quarter, marking the most significant year-over-year decline in the past 12 years, to a U.S. Zindex(R) home value indicator of $213,000, according to the Zillow.com Q1 Home Value Report released today. The median U.S. home value has not been this low since the second quarter of 2005, leaving more homeowners who purchased in 2005 or later with negative equity than any quarter previously reported by Zillow.

For more, see U.S. Home Values in Q1 Post Largest Decline in More than a Decade, Falling Back to 2005 Levels (More than half of homeowners who purchased during U.S. market peak in 2006 are now underwater on their mortgages, according to Zillow.com(R) Q1 2008 Home Value Report).