Most negative mortgage equity in 6 states

SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Seven states account for more than half of U.S. homeowners who found themselves upside-down in "negative equity" positions, a California data analyst reported.

The First American CoreLogic report found that more than 7.5 million homeowners had mortgages that were higher than the value of their homes at the end of September.

Nevada had the highest level of negative equity positions in the nation at a staggering 48 percent followed by Michigan at 39 percent, the study by First American said.

Investmentnews said Friday the other states were Florida and Arizona (29 percent), California (27 percent), Georgia (23 percent) and Ohio (22 percent).

New York had the lowest share of homeowners with negative equity with 4 percent. Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Montana were also in single digits.