1 in 4 Homeowners Are Now ‘Equity Rich’

Rising home prices are helping homeowners get richer and richer. Equity-rich properties represented 25.7 percent—or nearly 14.5 million—of U.S. properties in the third quarter, a record high, ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research firm, reports. “Equity-rich” means the combined estimated amount of loans secured by the property was 50 percent or less of the property’s estimated market value.

“As homeowners stay put longer, they continue to build more equity in their homes, despite the recent slowing in rates of home price appreciation,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with ATTOM Data Solutions. “West Coast markets along with New York have the highest share of equity-rich homeowners, while markets in the Mississippi Valley and Rust Belt continue to have stubbornly high rates of seriously underwater homeowners when it comes to home equity.”