With equity still on the rise, growing prices great news for homeowners!

With equity still on the rise, growing prices great news for homeowners!

About 17.8 million homes in the United States were equity-rich in the first quarter of 2021, according to the latest figures from Attom Data Solutions.

That’s 31.9% — roughly one in three — of the 55.8 million mortgaged residential properties in the country, per the company’s first quarter 2021 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. That’s up from 26.5% in the first three months of 2020 and continues a steady quarterly rate of growth from 28.3% and 30.2% in the previous two quarters.

Rising equity is yet another sign that, despite the global economic havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. housing market has been markedly hardy. Equity has continued to grow thanks to soaring home prices, which have helped widen the gap between the value of homeowners’ properties and what they owe on the mortgages.

Equity gains were geographically broad-based, with forty-one states showed a quarterly increase in the percentage of homes considered equity-rich.

“It continues to be a great time to be a homeowner most everywhere in the country,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “The ongoing price spikes we’re seeing help to cut down the number of seriously underwater properties and boost the level of equity-rich properties.” Arnie Aurellano, Scotsman Guide 5/14/21