Chicago’s #1

Los Angeles is a larger metro area than Chicago,  but according to a recent Zillow report had only 74,000 underwater homes,  while San Francisco had 20,000.   Chicago has  the most  with a jaw-dropping 254,000.   A fifth of the quarter million people with negative equity owe twice their home’s current value.

The median home value in Chicago is just over $200,000.   The city led the U.S. in  population loss  last year,  so do the math and consider the staggering amount of money already essentially lost to the area.   There is no population surge to pick up the slack,  and there is never likely to be one.