The housing market exited the trauma ward (急救室) in 2013. Prices rose as muchas 30 percent in some areas, bidding wars broke out and the foreclosure rate ( 丧失赎取权率 ) halved from its peak. But the patient is by no means fully recovered. In fact, fiveyears after the housing bubble collapsed, one in five mortgage holders still owe more thantheir home is worth.
    At its worst in early 2012, almost 16 million Americans were under water on theirmortgage. In some of the hardest hit neighborhoods, such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, andDetroit,70 percent of homeowners owed more than the value of their home. Since then,rising home prices have pushed 5 million homeowners back into the black, but 11 millionout of a total of 50 million mortgage holders remain in what financial folks call a negativeequity ( 负资产) position. "This is the new normal in the housing market," said SvenjaGudell, director of economic research at Zillow, an online real estate database, "We willhave high levels of negative equity for some time."
    With mortgage rates rising and expected to hit 5 percent late next year, manyeconomists predict a more subdued ( 萧条的 ) housing market in 2014. That means pricegains should moderate and it could take a while longer for homeowners who are underwater to recover. Out of the 75 million homeowners in America, about one in seven staytrapped in their homes, unable to move or sell.
    Housing prices have gone up and down over the decades, but until the financial crisisof 2008, it was rare to owe a bank more than a home is worth. For all of the 19th centuryand even during the Great Depression, this was virtually unheard of.
    Until all the negative equity disappears, the housing market won't be back to normal.It looks like we still have years to go.