Numbers ... We Have Lots Of Numbers

Some interesting numbers crossed my desk recently, including unencumbered homeowners, high rollers, and higher incomes. Let’s dive a little deeper:

• “Free and clear” are likely some of the best three words any homeowner can hear. And according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly two of every five owners can utter that phrase. Specifically, 39.4% of all owners in 2024 owned their places outright. That’s up more than five points from 2014. The share of homes without a mortgage increased from 2014 in every state and the District of Columbia. The share varied widely by state, though, with the lowest percentage in the Nation’s Capital at 24.3% and the highest in West Virginia at 53.9%.
• After adjusting for inflation, the median household takes home almost $20,000 more than it did in 1970, the Urban Institute reports. While that figure would make it seem that everyone is better off today than they were five decades ago, it hides the reality that not all people in every state are enjoying the same economic growth. In Utah, the median household income jumped 77.6% to lead the country. All states save for other West Virginia, where the median declined by 0.4%, registered gains. Michigan rose the least, though, at a measly gain of just 2.4%.
• South Florida holds 16,700 condominium apartments from Coconut Grove to West Palm Beach, 10,400 of which are 30 or more years old, according to the Miami Condo Club, which tracks the market on a weekly basis. The region also holds 23 submarkets. In the South Beach zone, more than 1,200 units are listed for sale. At the current rate of sales — 79 a month — it will take 15 months to burn off that many apartments. The average list price is $1.4 million; the average sales price, close to $1.2 million.
• Between 2010 and 2024, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, and Phoenix each added more than 100,000 residential units in large apartment buildings, reports Aziz Sunderji of Home Economics. He defines properties with 20 or more units as large. New York added the most, but Dallas and Houston. Numbers two and three behind the Big Apple, “are the stand outs,” says Sunderji. “Both roughly doubled their stock of large-building units since 2010. In percentage terms, Austin, Charlotte, and San Antonio grew even faster.”
• To combat insurance premium growth, nearly one in four homeowners are hiking their deductibles. And as a result, Matic Insurance Services reports, premium growth slowed in 2025, down to 8.5% year-over-year compared to an 18% jump the year before. Even so, premiums are still at an all-time high and account for 9% of the average owner's mortgage payment each month, the company says. And it expects premiums will continue to rise “as insurers update repair and replacement costs to better align with jumps in property values.”
• Finally, there’s this … at the end of last year, 21% of outstanding mortgages had rates at or above 6%, according to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). At the same time, 22% had rates at or below 3%.