As reported by the Tulsa World:

Oklahoma No. 1 in home equity

Although millions of people owe more on their homes than they're worth, Oklahoma has the lowest percentage of upside-down mortgages in the country.

Just 5.9 percent of Oklahoma homeowners, or 23,724 mortgage holders out of 402,187 recorded, have negative equity on their homes, according to a survey released Tuesday by business data company CoreLogic.

The state's number is well below the national average of 23.7 percent.

John Hausam, president of ERA John Hausam Realtors in Tulsa, said the low rate is likely the result of Oklahoma skipping the last decade's housing bubble, when prices in many regions skyrocketed, only to plunge.

"We've never had the strong appreciation," Hausam said. "We've averaged a 3 percent increase each year since 1981 up until the last year or so."

In its latest report, the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors says the median price of a home was $126,000 in March, up 5 percent from a year earlier.

CoreLogic's survey said the state with the next lowest rate of negative equity was New York at 7 percent, followed by Montana, Pennsylvania and North Dakota.

Nevada had the highest negative equity rate by far at 69.9 percent of all homes.

The national rate was even with this time in 2009, said Mark Fleming, chief economist at Santa Ana, Calif.-based CoreLogic.

"The two most important triggers of default, negative equity and unemployment, have stabilized over the last six months," he said in a written statement. "As house prices grow again and borrowers pay down their mortgage debt, negative equity levels will begin to diminish. The typical underwater borrower is likely to regain their lost equity over the next five to seven years."

The report was based on data from 47 million mortgages representing 85 percent of all home loans. Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming were not included in the survey.

States with lowest negative equity
1. Oklahoma: 5.9 percent
2. New York: 7 percent
3. Montana: 7.3 percent
4. Pennsylvania: 7.4 percent
5. North Dakota: 8 percent

States with highest negative equity
1. Nevada: 69.9 percent
2. Arizona: 51.2 percent
3. Florida: 47. 7 percent
4. Michigan: 38.6 percent
5. California: 34.1 percent

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=32&articleid=20100512_32_E1_Althou295590&archive=yes