Almost Half Of Metro Detroit Homeowners 'Underwater'

Metro Detroit Region Hits A Six-Year Housing Market Low
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 file photo, people stand next to a house collapsed from Superstorm Sandy in East Haven, Conn. While Connecticut was spared the destruction seen in New York and New Jersey, many communities along the shoreline, including some of the wealthiest towns in America, were struggling with one of the most severe storms in generations. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 file photo, people stand next to a house collapsed from Superstorm Sandy in East Haven, Conn. While Connecticut was spared the destruction seen in New York and New Jersey, many communities along the shoreline, including some of the wealthiest towns in America, were struggling with one of the most severe storms in generations. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

Nearly one in every two homeowners in Metro Detroit owes more on the house than it is worth, a trend that is shrinking the area's hard-hit real estate market.

Michigan ranks fifth among the states in the number of "underwater" homes. Owners are reluctant to put them on the market, because they don't want to take a financial bath, and end up paying the difference to their mortgage holders or requesting a complicated short sale.

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