Home Equity Level Held Steady in Q4

Nearly half (47.7%) of mortgaged residential properties were considered equity-rich in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to data from ATTOM. That level is slightly lower from the 48.3% in the third quarter and from a recent peak of 49.2% in the second quarter – although it is also above the 46.1% level in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The annual increases were led by Rhode Island (portion of mortgaged homes considered equity-rich increased from 54.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 60.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024), Missouri (up from 37.3% to 43%), Connecticut (up from 42.4% to 47.9%), New Jersey (up from 46.8% to 52.3%) and Illinois (up from 28% to 33%).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the largest year-over-year fallbacks during the fourth quarter came in Florida (down, year over year, from 54.3% to 50.9%), Utah (down from 53.7% to 51.1%), Arizona (down from 52.7% to 50.9%), Oregon (down from 51.2% to 49.6%) and Idaho (down from 57.6% to 56.1%).

At the same time, 2.5% of mortgaged homes were classified as seriously underwater. This was the same level as in the third quarter and almost unchanged from the 2.6% level from one year before.

“The last few months of 2024 marked pretty much a holding pattern for the housing market,” said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber. “That’s typical for the slower Fall home buying season. But it certainly wasn’t a downer for homeowners across the country who are sitting on historically high levels of property equity thanks in large part to the endless increases in home values over more than a decade. Nearly half of all residential mortgage payers in the US have paid off at least half their loans, leaving many with six-figures levels of wealth available to leverage anything from new home purchases to starting new businesses to paying off major expenses.”

Barber added, “We are likely to see more of the same steady pace over the next few months before heading into the Spring buying season, which will say a lot about whether the housing market keeps roaring ahead and boosts home equity even further.”