How Are Barnstable Homeowners Doing With Their Mortgages?

Written by Lest Masterson and Adam Roberts

The majority of Barnstable homeowners with a mortgage are below the 17 percent national average of homeowners who are “underwater” on their mortgages, according a new report from Zillow.

Ten percent of Barnstable homeowners in 02668 zip code are underwater. In the 02630 the figure is nine percent, in the 02632 it's 15 percent and Osterville is at eight and 11 percent.

The story is slightly different in Hyannis Port where 28 percent of homeowners are underwater.

About 12.2 million U.S. homeowners with a mortgage were in negative equity, or underwater, in the second quarter of 2013. That’s an improvement from 13 million in the first quarter and 15.3 million from a year ago. Approximately one-third of American homes are owned without a mortgage, reported Zillow.

Fifty-seven percent of homeowners across the country in negative equity are underwater by 20 percent or more and about 13 percent owes more than twice what their home is worth, said Zillow.

The Boston metropolitian area has also lower underwater rates than the rest of the nation. Boston has one of the lowest metro percentages (15 percent), which is much better than the three worst: Las Vegas (48 percent), Atlanta (44 percent) and Orlando (40 percent).

"Widespread rising home values during the past year have helped chip away at negative equity nationwide, helping many homeowners who were only modestly underwater to come up for air. For those homeowners who are deeply underwater, though, there is still a long row to hoe," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries.

"The frustratingly slow pace of negative equity declines in the face of such robust home value appreciation is a direct result of the fact that many people in the hardest-hit markets are underwater by an enormous amount. Because of this, negative equity will be a factor in these markets for years to come, constraining the supply of homes for sale and keeping people out of the market who might otherwise get involved,” he said.

Check out the Zillow map. Put your cursor across the area to find information about other towns. You can also click on "view on full map" and search by zip code, city or county in the search. Or you can click on this link.