By Michael B. Sauter, 24/7 Wall St.
How much residents of each state owe on their mortgages is an interesting statistic. For the most part, residents of the states with the highest average mortgage debt are not in trouble. While the average home price in these states dropped in value during the recession, the foreclosure rates in these states are among the lowest in the country. The reason: residents of these states can generally afford to lose and owe more money than their counterparts in other states. 24/7 Wall St. examined a recent report by Credit Karma to find the 10 states with the highest average mortgage debt.
Most of the states on our list have extremely high mortgage debt because of the size of their initial mortgages. States like Connecticut and Massachusetts, which have among the highest median home values in the U.S., also have among the highest mortgage debt. Hawaii, which has the second-highest average mortgage debt per person, has the highest median home value of $525,400.
Many of the states on the list also experienced the steepest declines in home value during the recession. Home prices in seven of the states with the highest mortgage debt declined during the recession. In states like California and Nevada, properties lost more than 30 percent of their value. Even in states like New Jersey and Maryland, which fared relatively well during the recession, homes lost between 7?percent and 10?percent of their value.
Sharp declines in home values, coupled with high mortgage debt, should translate to financial disaster. However, while home values dropped more than 7?percent in Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey?? states where mortgage debt is the highest? ? foreclosure rates stayed low.
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Meanwhile, states with the lowest median home value and relatively high mortgage debt tend to have the highest foreclosure rates. Illinois, Michigan and Florida all have median home values below the national average and relatively high mortgage debt compared to housing prices in the state. These states also have among the highest foreclosure rates in the country.
These are the 10 states with the worst mortgage debt.
10. Nevada
- Mortgage debt per person: $196,911
- Median household income: $51,001 (19th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $6,145 (7th lowest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010):?-44.5?percent (biggest decline)
No state had a more dramatic downfall in its housing market during the recession than Nevada. In 2006, nearly 40,000 building permits were approved in the state, a nation-high average of 15.8 per 1,000 people. By 2010, the number of permits declined 80?percent and median home values dropped 44.5?percent. This has left thousands of homeowners with underwater mortgages. According to Credit Karma, Nevada residents owe an average of $196,911 on their mortgages. But unlike residents of most of the other states with high debt, many Nevada residents are not affluent enough to shoulder this burden. The state has the highest unemployment rate in the country, 13?percent, and a median income that is only 19th highest in the U.S.
9. Colorado
- Mortgage debt per person: $198,117
- Median household income: $54,046 (15th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $7,533 (5th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010):?+1.6?percent (31st smallest increase)
Colorado?s average mortgage debt of just under $200,000 is the ninth-highest in the country. The state?s average credit card debt of $7,533 per person is the fifth-highest. Residents, however, have been able to pay some of these massive debts on time, as Coloradans also boast one of the best average credit scores in the country. However, it had the 12th-highest foreclosure rate in the country in December. While not as wealthy as some of the other states with extremely high personal debt, Colorado is certainly better off than Nevada. Poverty and unemployment are both quite low in the state.
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8. Connecticut
- Mortgage debt per person: $211,516
- Median household income: $64,032 (4th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $7,730 (3rd highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): -3.4?percent (13th biggest decline)
In 2006, Connecticut had the second fewest building permits per person issued, behind only Rhode Island. This suggests that fewer people were buying homes they could not afford at the height of the housing bubble. Indeed, just one in every 1,145 homes were foreclosed?on in the state in December, a much lower figure compared to states such as Nevada and California, where the foreclosure rates in December were 1 in 177 and 1 in 254, respectively. Along with the eighth-highest mortgage debt per person in the country, Connecticut also ranks third-highest both in credit card debt and student debt. Nevertheless, the average resident?s credit score is the ninth-highest in the country, meaning state residents can pay off their debts. Connecticut has the fifth-lowest poverty rate in the country, and the fourth-highest median income.
7. Virginia
- Mortgage debt per person: $221,873
- Median household income: $60,674 (8th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $7,298 (9th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): +2?percent (21st biggest increase)
The average Virginia resident has $221,516 in mortgage debt, the seventh-greatest amount of the debt in the country. This does not include the additional $50,000 in debt the average resident has accumulated between their credit cards, car payments and student loans. However, the average household makes more than $60,000 per year, the eighth-most in the country, and so, to a certain extent, Virginians are able to afford their IOUs. The average credit score in the state of 670 is the tenth-best in the country.
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6. Massachusetts
- Mortgage debt per person: $224,661
- Median household income: $62,072 (6th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $6,851 (16th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): -9.8?percent (8th biggest decline)
Massachusetts has the fifth-highest median home value of $334,100, which explains why the average resident owes nearly $225,000 in mortgage payments. But with the state boasting the sixth-highest median income and ninth-lowest poverty, residents are generally able to pay off their debts. While the number of new building projects has not declined as much as the rest of the country, home values still declined nearly 10?percent between 2006 and 2010. This decline affected some homeowners, demonstrated by the fact that the state had the 20th-highest foreclosure rate in the country last year.
5. Washington
- Mortgage debt per person: $225,581
- Median household income: $55,681 (11th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $6,825 (17th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): +1.6?percent (32nd biggest gain)
While Washington has the fifth-highest mortgage debt per person in the country, state residents tend to be more frugal in their other finances. Compared to other states, Washington has only the 17th highest credit card and auto debt per capita, and has the 13th-lowest?student debt. Washington?s median home value in 2010 was the ninth-highest in the country. Home values actually increased 1.6?percent during the recession. As a result, foreclosures in the state are low, despite the fact that the state has the 16th highest unemployment rate in the country and a high poverty rate of 12.5?percent.
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4. New Jersey
- Mortgage debt per person: $236,017
- Median household income: $67,681 (2nd highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $7,608 (4th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): -7.5?percent (9th biggest decline)
Most of the states hit hardest by the housing crash had a great deal of new buildings approved in the first half of the decade. This was the case in places like Nevada, California and Arizona. Because all of these?new buildings were built at peak home prices, they had the farthest to fall when home prices collapsed. New Jersey, however, had the ninth-fewest building permits approved in 2006. Nevertheless, median home prices declined nearly $30,000, or the ninth-most in the country. However, since residents have the second highest median income in the U.S., they have been able to bear the loss in their home values. New Jersey had the ninth-fewest foreclosures in the country in December.
3. Maryland
- Mortgage debt per person: $242,445
- Median household income: $68,854 (the highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $7,226 (10th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): -9.9?percent (7th biggest decline)
According to Credit Karma, the average mortgage debt per person in Maryland is nearly $250,000. This is at least partially?a result of the fact that the state has the fifth-highest median home value in the U.S., as well as the highest median household income in the country. Like New Jersey, Maryland had a very small number of homes built before the recession. Also like New Jersey, home values still declined significantly. Nevertheless, wealthy Maryland residents have been able to weather the worst of this decline. The state had the 12th-fewest foreclosures in December, and the average credit score per resident is 12th best.
2. Hawaii
- Mortgage debt per person: $307,508
- Median household income: $63,030 (5th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $7,527 (7th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): -0.8?percent (15th biggest decline)
Hawaii has the highest median home value in the country at $525,000. This is $154,000 more than the next highest state. Needless to say, taking out a mortgage on a home in the island state is a tremendous financial commitment. But with extremely low unemployment, high median income, low poverty and the second-highest rate of health insurance coverage in the country, Hawaii homeowners can generally afford it.
1. California
- Mortgage debt per person: $313,749
- Median household income: $57,708 (9th highest)
- Credit card debt per person: $6,434 (30th highest)
- Change in home value (2006 - 2010): -30.8?percent (2nd biggest decline)
While most of the residents of the states with the highest mortgage debt have been able to support the massive mortgages despite the fact that their homes have lost significant value, California is a different story. In 2006, California had the most expensive homes in the country, with a median home value of $532,000. By 2010, that value had declined by $164,000? ? more than 30?percent. The effects of this massive decline in home prices had wide-reaching effects on the state economy. Unemployment in California is now the second-highest in the country, and 14.5?percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The average mortgage debt per person of $313,749 has been too much for thousands of residents. In December alone, one in every 252 homes was foreclosed upon.
Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10219047-states-where-citizens-carry-the-most-mortgage-debt
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