CoreLogic: National Homeowner Equity Up 2.5% in Q3
(Image courtesy of CoreLogic)
CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., found that U.S. homeowners with mortgages saw equity increase by $425 billion since Q3 2023—a gain of 2.5% year-over-year.
This brings the total homeowner net equity to more than $17.5 trillion. Homeowners with mortgages cover 62% of all properties across the country.
Average equity gains for homeowners were $5,700 from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024. However, that’s far less than the sharp increase seen last quarter–when annual equity gains averaged $25,400.
The total number of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity increased 3.5% from Q2 to Q3. There are currently just shy of 1 million (990,000) homes with negative equity–about 1.8% of all mortgaged properties.
However, on a year-over-year basis, negative equity declined by about 3%.
The national aggregate value of negative equity was about $324 billion, up from Q2 by about $4.3 billion, or 1%. That’s also up year-over-year by about $9.1 billion, or 3%.
That’s still far below the 26% of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity hit in Q4 2009. CoreLogic’s equity data analyses began in Q3 2009.
Equity gains varied by state. Rhode Island, at $43,000, New Jersey, also at $43,000 and New York, at $37,000, saw the largest average national equity gains.
Three states actually saw annual equity losses: Hawaii, at $34,000, Colorado, at $17,000 and Idaho, at $13,000.
“As home prices flattened in the third quarter, home equity gains also slowed, even declining in some regions of the country. While home equity closely depends on home price changes, equity losses are also tied to natural disaster events since households can lose a lot of their equity following a catastrophe, particularly if not property insured. As a result, following Maui’s 2023 devastating wildfire, Hawaii now tops the list with largest decline in home equity,” noted CoreLogic Chief Economist Selma Hepp.
“Nevertheless, Hawaiian homeowners still rank high for homeowner equity, with equity averaging $700,000,” Hepp continued. “Nationally, average homeowner equity remains near a historical peak at over $311,000. Still, recent devastating weather events underscore the importance of maintaining that equity, particularly for households for which this is the only source of wealth.”
