Percentage of Homeowners Considered Equity-Rich Sees Boost

As record high home prices begin to dip, homeowner equity remains high.

According to ATTOM, in the third quarter of this year, 48.5% of homes with a mortgage were considered equity-rich, which means that the loan balance remaining on the mortgage is not more than 50% of the home’s estimated market value. This is an increase from the second quarter, when it was 48.1% and an increase of 9% year over year. Ultimately, 94.3% of homeowners with a mortgage have some equity, up from 92.9% year over year.

Additionally, the number of mortgaged homes considered seriously underwater, when the loan balance is 25% more than the property’s estimated market value, remained stable at 2.9%, or one in every 35 mortgaged properties. It’s identical to the second quarter and down 0.6% from last year.

At least half of homeowners with a mortgage were considered equity-rich in 20 states, which is up from seven states year over year. Also, 39 states had an increase of equity-rich homeowners from the second to the third quarter this year and every state had an increase of equity-rich homeowners year over year. The number of seriously underwater properties fell in 38 states from the second to the third quarter and decreased in 43 states year over year. Scranton had a higher-than-average percentage of seriously underwater mortgaged properties at 6.2%, while Philadelphia had a high percentage of seriously underwater properties in specific area ZIP codes.

Just 0.40% of homes with a mortgage, or 227,100 homes, were looking at potential foreclosure in this past quarter. However, 92% of those homeowners had some equity in their property.