THE BIG FINISH
WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND THE MARKET'S LEADING INDICATORS
96
OVERLEVERAGING FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM
While buying a home represents an important milestone for a family, is buying property at the cost
of stretching their credit a wise move for homebuyers? Maybe not, according to a study by WalletHub
that ranked America's cities with the most and least overleveraged mortgage debt. The report said
that while the current low-rate mortgage environment makes 2019 a tempting time to buy a home,
consumers might find mortgage debt unsustainable if they don't have a good grasp of how to pay off
the debt.
For the study, WalletHub determined which cities are home to the most overleveraged mortgage
debtors by comparing the median mortgage balances against the median income and median home
value in more than 2,500 cities. The rankings were based on five key metrics—median mortgage debt,
median house value, median income, mortgage debt-to-income ratio, and mortgage debt-to-house
value ratio.
CITY
HOME OVERLEVERAGE
SCORE*
MCKEES ROCKS, PENNSYLVANIA 63.14
EWA BEACH, HAWAII 61.74
BELL GARDENS, CALIFORNIA 60.37
KAHULUI, HAWAII 57.50
LAHAINA, HAWAII 56.64
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA 56.61
FALLBROOK, CALIFORNIA 56.38
EAST PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 52.98
WILLIS, TEXAS 51.74
DUMFRIES, VIRGINIA 51.74
10 CITIES WITH THE MOST OVERLEVERAGED MORTGAGE DEBTORS
*100 Points = Highest WalletHub Home Overleverage Score (Most Overleveraged)
Source: WalletHub 2019's Cities with the Most Overleveraged Mortgage Debtors Report
