By Moira Ritter
CoStar News
July 1, 2024 | 11:58 AM
The value of owning a home is growing as prospective buyers entering the housing market face challenging conditions.
In the year ended in the first quarter of 2024, homeowners with mortgages saw a 9.6% increase in their equity for a total of $1.5 trillion in growth nationally, according to data services firm CoreLogic’s latest Homeowner Equity Insights report. That figure includes about 62% of all properties in the United States.
While no states posted annual equity losses, and 29 states had an annual average equity gain of greater than $20,000, some states saw bigger increases than others in their homes across the country. California topped the list of gainers, with mortgage-holding homeowners picking up $64,000 in equity compared to last year. Massachusetts followed with a gain of $61,000, and New Jersey was third on the list with an increase of $59,000.
At the same time, the number of “underwater” borrowers who owe more on their mortgage than what their home is worth decreased 16.1%. As of the end of the first quarter, only 1.8% of mortgaged residential properties, or about 1 million homes, had negative equity.
The growth in equity and decline in underwater mortgages is a shift from the same time in 2023, when national homeowner equity posted an annual decrease for the first time in 12 years and negative equity was climbing. The data also comes as U.S. home prices edge higher, most recently hitting a record, according to the latest data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.