U.S. homeowners sink further underwater

Negative equity is increasingly plaguing the American homeowner, rendering many people unable to sell their properties, the Associated Press reported. The number of underwater borrowers rose to 23.1 percent, or 11.1 million households nationwide, in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to a new report from CoreLogic. That’s up 0.6 percent from the third quarter, and follows three straight quarters of declines — though the declines had been due, in large part, to homeowners with negative equity succumbing to foreclosure. Underwater homeowners typically make up around 5 percent of households in a healthy market, the report says. [AP via MSNBC]

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