The report comes from the real estate data giant First American Core Logic, which studied statistics including home valuations, sales prices, first and second mortgages, and payment delinquencies.
Researchers found that, nationally, 32% of homes are now valued at less than the remainder of the mortgage owed. But the Cleveland/Elyria/Mentor region is suffering far more.
45% of homes in that region are valued below what owners must pay to clear their debt, with more than $29 billion dollars of total property value now at risk of default.
The numbers are scarcely better in other parts of Northeast Ohio. In the Akron area, 42% of homes are in similar circumstances - with more than $8 Billion in assets at risk.
Overall, Ohio has the sixth highest percentage of homes listed as "underwater", the term for such mortgages; among the states worse off are Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Michigan and California.
Yet, there are some signs that the housing crisis may be reaching bottom.
Sam Khater is the Senior Economist with First American CoreLogic.
KHATER: The seasonal stabilization in home prices that occurred in this winter and the late spring and very early summer months this year are a positive sign, because we haven't had that kind of stability since 2005 or so.