Homeowners with mortgages saw their equity increase by a total of $1.5 trillion year over year during the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest Homeowner Equity Insights report from CoreLogic.
That equates to a collective annual equity gain of about 9.6% for all mortgaged properties, which comprise approximately 62% of all properties in the country. The average homeowner in the United States gained about $28,000 in equity over the past 12 months.
Homeowners in California — home to some of the country’s most expensive real estate and, in CoreLogic’s words, “perpetually high” housing demand — saw an average equity gain of $64,000 year over year. That’s the largest annual pickup in the nation. In the Los Angeles metro, the average annual equity gain was around $72,000 annually. Most of the other outsized equity gains were clustered in the Northeast; Massachusetts ($61,000) and New Jersey ($59,000) followed California atop the list of states with the largest equity gains per homeowner.
“With home prices continuing to reach new highs, owners are also seeing their equity approach the historic peaks of 2023, close to a total of $305,000 per owner,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic. “Importantly, higher prices have also lifted some 190,000 homeowners out of negative equity, leaving only about 1.8% of those with mortgages underwater.
“Home equity is key to mortgage holders who have seen other homeownership costs soar, including insurance, taxes and HOA fees, as a source of financial buffer,” Hepp added. “Also, low amounts of negative equity are welcomed in markets that have shown price weaknesses this spring, such as Florida (1.1% of homes underwater) and Texas (1.7% of homes underwater) — both of which are below the national rate — as further price declines could drive more homeowners to lose their equity.”
The total number of mortgaged residences with negative equity retreated by 2.1% from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, dipping to roughly 1 million homes or 1.8% of all mortgaged properties. The national aggregate value of negative equity was approximately $321 billion at the end of the first quarter, down 1% from one quarter prior and 5% from the same quarter in 2023.
