Equity Rich in the U.S.A

The consistency in the growth of the economy as well as the growth in the real estate industry overall has had a spillover effect in homeowner equity.

According to ATTOM Data Solutions, nearly fifteen million homes in the U.S. were calculated to be equity-rich properties in the fourth quarter of 2019. This term indicates who such individuals that hold such mortgages owed 50% or less of the estimated market value of those properties.

Overall, 27% of all mortgaged homes are considered to be equity-rich. On the other side of the spectrum are those homes that are calculated to be seriously underwater. These are mortgaged homes where the loan value exceeded the value of the property by 25% or more.

The number of such homes translated into 3.5 million homes or 6.4% of all U.S. properties in the fourth quarter of 2019; a decrease from 6.5% in the third quarter.

The state of California came in with the highest number of equity-rich zip codes, which included 4 zip codes in San Francisco, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale.

The metro areas with the highest equity-rich properties with populations greater than 500,000 again primarily were located in California: San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa and then Honolulu in 5th place.

According to the report, the five states with the highest equity-rich homeowners were: 1. California 42.8%, 2. Vermont 39.2%, 3. Hawaii 38.8%, 4. Washington State 35.4%, and 5. New York 35.1%.