Homeowner equity up by $766 billion – CoreLogic

One million borrowers achieved positive equity in 2016, says chief economist

Homeowner equity up by $766 billion – CoreLogic
The equity of homeowners with mortgages has gone up by $766.4 billion, an 11.2% increase, since the first quarter of 2016, according to CoreLogic.

The average homeowner gained equity of around $13,400 between Q1 2016 and Q1 2017. In Q1 2017, negative equity went down by 3% (3.1 million homes/6.1% of all mortgaged properties) from Q4 2016, while compared with Q1 2016,  negative equity declined 24% from 4.1 million homes (8.1% of all mortgaged properties).

“One million borrowers achieved positive equity over the last year, which means mortgage risk continues to steadily decline as a result of increasing home prices,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Pockets of concern remain with markets such as Miami, Las Vegas and Chicago, which are the top three for negative equity among large metros, with each recording a negative equity share at least twice or more the national average.”

By the end of Q1 2017, the national aggregate value of negative equity was $283 billion, down from $285.5 billion in Q4 2016.

In Q1 2017, Texas had the highest percentage of homes with positive equity at 98.4%. Both Utah and Washington followed suit with 98.2%, Hawaii with 98.1%, and Colorado with 98%.

“Homeowner equity increased by over $750 billion during the last year, the largest increase since mid-2014,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The rising cushion of home equity is one of the main drivers of improved mortgage performance. It also supports consumer balance sheets, spending and the broader economy.”


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