America's south-west may be a very dry place but nowhere else in the country are more homeowners "under water", owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. In cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas prices have fallen by up to 50% from their peak; more than half the mortgages in Arizona and Nevada are in negative equity (see map). Yet the problem is national. One in four American borrowers are under water. Over 4m households owe at least twice as much as their home is worth.
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