There was a surge in homeowner equity in 2017 as the share of homes in negative equity fell below 5% by the end of the year
There was a surge in homeowner equity in 2017 as the share of homes in negative equity fell below 5% by the end of the year.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, 19,000 homes regained equity and during the whole of 2017, CoreLogic says that homes with mortgages saw equity increase by an average 12.2% (around $15,000 on average), amounting to a total of $908.4 billion.
“Home-price growth has been the primary driver of home-equity wealth creation,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The CoreLogic Home Price Index grew 6.2% during 2017, the largest calendar-year increase since 2013.”
Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic added that there are wide disparities in home-equity gains by geographic area.
“The average homeowner in California and Washington had a wealth gain of about $40,000, reflecting the high price of homes in California and the rapid appreciation in Washington,” he said. “In contrast, the average owner in Louisiana had little change in their housing wealth during 2017, given much lower prices and modest price growth.”
While the number of underwater homes has fallen, the national aggregate value of negative equity increased 2.1% quarter-over-quarter but decreased 1.1% year-over-year, to approximately $5.7 billion.
