Where NC mortgage holders are underwater on their home loans

Data: Attom ; Map: Jacque Schrag/Axios

While most U.S. homeowners are sitting on a mountain of home equity after years of rising house prices, a number of mortgage holders in some pockets of North Carolina are underwater on their loans.

Why it matters: That means these folks owe more on the mortgage than their home is worth, which puts them in a horrendous financial situation if they need to sell their house, Axios' Brianna Crane writes .

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Zoom in: Rocky Mount had some of the highest percentages in the state of homeowners with underwater mortgages as of the first quarter of this year, per Attom .

• One ZIP in the eastern part of the town clocked a rate of nearly 11%.
• ZIP codes in Henderson — near the Virginia border — and Lumberton — just south of Fayetteville — had the second and third highest rates, at 9 and 7%, respectively.

Data: Attom ; Map: Tory Lysik/Axios Visuals Yes, but: While the South has some of the highest shares of underwater mortgages, North Carolina is an outlier in the region: just 2.3% of homeowners statewide are upside down on their mortgages.

• Many of the beach and mountain towns of North Carolina have some of the highest rates of equity-rich homeowners: Oak Island, Emerald Isle and Nags Head have the most, with rates all above 67%.

Reality check: After the housing crisis of 2008 1 in 4 homes with mortgages were underwater.

• Unemployment was high in that recession and many people who couldn't pay back their loans by selling their house were forced into foreclosure or short sales .
• Right now, unemployment in the U.S. is low — and the economy is strong.

The bottom line: If the labor market or economy takes a turn, underwater homeowners are more at risk.

• With today's high mortgage rates, the most financially secure people are buying in cash , Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather says.
• Recent buyers who took out a mortgage likely have less cash to fall back on.