Lake County Gazette

Approximately one of every five homeowners in Lake County has a mortgage that is at least 25 percent higher than the value of their home as of March 31, according to a report by Attom Data Solutions, a California-based provider of property data.

A Lake County Gazette analysis of the report found that across 24 Lake County zip codes, 18.36 percent of homeowners were "seriously underwater," as defined by Attom.

In North Chicago, 65.9 percent of homeowners owe 25 percent more than their home's estimated market value, Attom reports.

In portions of Waukegan, more than 40 percent of homeowners face a mortgage crisis. The number of homeowners deemed "seriously underwater" was 35 percent in Zion and close to 30 percent in other parts of Waukegan.     

Buffalo Grove fared much better, posting a "seriously underwater" rate of 7 percent.

Lake County includes 702,760 people and 204,864 owner-occupied homes, which represent 77.53 percent of all housing units.

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Underwater mortgages in Lake County

More than 35,000 homeowners in Lake County are "seriously underwater" on their mortgages. Where do they live?

Zip	Includes	Zip Population	Zip Housing Units	# Owner-Occupied Homes	% Owner-Occupied Homes	% seriously underwater	# seriously underwater
60064	North Chicago	15,954	5,839	2,856	48.91%	65.9%	1,882
60085	Waukegan	71,051	24,989	10,812	43.27%	41.4%	4,474
60099	Zion	31,147	11,894	7,496	63.02%	35.0%	2,624
60087	Waukegan	26,545	10,063	6,492	64.51%	28.6%	1,859
60041	Ingleside	9,192	3,911	3,452	88.26%	27.2%	939
60020	Fox Lake	9,875	5,452	3,867	70.93%	26.0%	1,006
60073	Round Lake	61,118	19,342	17,279	89.33%	24.6%	4,252
60002	Antioch	24,340	10,778	9,488	88.03%	22.8%	2,163
60083	Wadsworth	10,676	3,845	3,043	79.14%	19.9%	605
60042	Island Lake	8,603	3,282	3,312	100.91%	19.0%	630
60030	Grayslake	36,649	14,274	11,048	77.40%	18.8%	2,079
60045	Lake Forest	20,514	7,813	6,579	84.21%	17.1%	1,128
60084	Wauconda	15,695	6,246	5,564	89.08%	17.0%	948
60046	Lake Villa	35,013	12,815	11,862	92.56%	16.4%	1,943
60060	Mundelein	38,138	13,602	10,503	77.22%	14.7%	1,540
60035	Highland Park	29,806	12,194	9,460	77.58%	13.8%	1,303
60010	Barrington	44,331	17,294	15,030	86.91%	12.9%	1,941
60031	Gurnee	37,800	14,337	11,195	78.08%	12.4%	1,391
60015	Deerfield	27,356	9,884	8,251	83.48%	10.6%	873
60044	Lake Bluff	9,715	3,996	3,110	77.83%	10.4%	322
60048	Libertyville	28,966	10,879	8,932	82.10%	9.5%	853
60047	Lake Zurich	42,330	14,446	13,478	93.30%	9.0%	1,219
60061	Vernon Hills	26,352	10,350	8,113	78.39%	8.5%	687
60089	Buffalo Grove	41,594	16,710	13,642	81.64%	7.0%	951
	TOTALS	702,760	264,235	204,864	77.53%	18.36%	37,612

Source: Attom Data Solutions. Includes ZIP Codes with 2,500 or more properties with loans.