Chicago way ahead of U.S.—in those who can’t afford to sell their home – Crain’s

A little more than 7.8 percent of Chicago-area homeowners with a mortgage had negative equity, meaning they owed more on the loan than the home was worth on the current market, according to a Sept. 20 report from property information firm CoreLogic. That’s more than twice the rate of "underwater" homeownership nationwide.

In addition to the Chicago-area homeowners who have negative equity, nearly 1.6 percent were in the “near negative equity” range, meaning their home equity was under 5 percent.

Together, the two groups total 9.4 percent of Chicago-area homeowners who can’t afford to put their home on the market. That’s nearly 125,000 homeowners stuck with either staying in the home they have regardless of whether their family size has changed or selling at a loss or at such a slender profit that they can barely afford to move up.