A recent industry report released Wednesday showed that more than 20 percent of US homeowners owe more on their mortgage debt than the value of their homes.

The real estate website Zillow.com reported that 21.8 percent of American homes or more than 16 million homes were in "underwater" or "negative equity" position. This is occurence was caused by the sharp drop in home prices making US homeowners' their mortgage debt larger than the price of the houses. Home prices fell 14 percent in the year ended March 31.