Nearly half of mortgaged homes in the U.S. are considered equity rich, 3Q data shows.
Data curator ATTOM released its latest 2022 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. The report shows that 48.5% of mortgaged residential properties had loan balances that were no more than 50% of their estimated market values. That’s up from 48.1% in 2Q for the 10th straight quarter.
The report also found that at least half of all mortgage-payers in 20 states were equity-rich in the third quarter. There were only seven states a year earlier.
Nine of the 10 states where equity-rich mortgaged homes increased the most from the prior quarter were in the Midwest, Northeast and South regions of the U.S., according to the report.
The top five were:
- South Dakota, with the largest increase, up from 36.7% in the second quarter to 41.8% in the third quarter
- Vermont, up from 71.4% to 75.9%
- Montana, up from 48.1% to 51.5%
- Indiana, up from 43% to 46.2%
- Mississippi, up from 29.1% to 31.5%
The report also showed that just 2.9% of mortgaged homes, or one in 35, were considered seriously underwater in 3Q. “Underwater” means that a combined estimated balance of loans secured by the property was at least 25% more than the property’s estimated market value.
This number was the same as the prior quarter, but down from 3.4%, or one in 29 properties, in the third quarter of 2021.
Follow NEXT on LinkedIn for the latest industry news and executive intel.
