Few in Bay Area qualify in housing rescue plan

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the Obama housing initiative:

[the]initiative is only available to people who took out so-called conforming loans of less than $417,000 and whose homes are not more than 5 percent underwater - meaning what they owe is not more than 5 percent greater than their home's value. For instance, someone with a home now worth $300,000 who owes $315,000 could qualify for the refinance - but would be barred if the home's value dropped further.

In the San Francisco metropolitan region - comprising San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Mateo counties - just 8.4 percent of all mortgaged homes meet those criteria, according to Zillow. In the San Jose metropolitan area (Santa Clara County), only 6.9 percent of mortgaged homes would qualify. In Napa County, 8.8 percent of mortgage holders would qualify.

Great moments in Blue America.