Among Arizona counties, Cochise and Apache had the highest percentage of property owners with mortgages who owe at least 25 percent more on their loans than their property is worth, according to an analysis by ATTOM Data Solutions looking at home equity at the end of the first quarter.
In each county, 15 percent of all properties with a mortgage were considered “seriously underwater.” Santa Cruz County had the third-highest rate in the state at 13 percent. The analysis is based on a home’s estimated market value.
In Arizona, owners of 116,314 properties with mortgages owe at least 25 percent more on their loans than their property is worth. The state ranks 37th in the U.S., with 7.8 percent of all properties with a mortgage considered “seriously underwater.”
In this analysis, only those counties where sufficient mortgage data was available were ranked.
Counties with highest rates of underwater mortgages
| County | Population | Housing Units | Total Seriously Underwater | Percent Seriously Underwater |
| Cochise | 128,177 | 60,401 | 3,341 | 15% |
| Apache | 72,346 | 32,725 | 285 | 15% |
| Santa Cruz | 46,547 | 18,125 | 1,010 | 13% |
| La Paz | 20,304 | 16,234 | 147 | 12% |
| Navajo | 108,209 | 57,554 | 1,528 | 11% |
| Yuma | 203,292 | 90,071 | 2,995 | 9% |
| Graham | 37,529 | 13,268 | 414 | 9% |
| Pima | 1,003,338 | 450,828 | 21,041 | 9% |
| Mohave | 203,629 | 112,617 | 3,960 | 9% |
| Gila | 53,179 | 33,138 | 842 | 8% |
| Pinal | 397,604 | 166,455 | 5,350 | 7% |
| Coconino | 138,064 | 64,435 | 1,307 | 7% |
| Maricopa | 4,088,549 | 1,680,412 | 70,974 | 7% |
| Yavapai | 218,586 | 112,854 | 3,118 | 6% |