Only 16 percent of District homeowners were under water on their mortgages by the end of 2009, compared to a U.S. average of nearly 23.8 percent, according to the fourth quarter report released by FirstAmerican CoreLogic last week [.PDF]. That’s roughly a third less than the national average.

While that alone may not having you cheering, it’s probably worth a dignified fist bump for the embattled home owner set.

Another 4.5 percent are near negative equity, but that is also about 10 percent below the national average. “Near negative equity” is defined as less than five percent home equity.

Keep in mind, this data is for all of Virginia and Maryland, not just the local suburbs.

While it’d be great to see these percentages go from a combined 20.5 percent to zero, that’s probably not going to happen at least until next year.