“One of the most profound benefits of the nation’s 13-year housing market boom,” the number of mortgaged, residential homes considered equity-rich remained near historically high levels in the fourth quarter of 2024 — declining only slightly to 47.7% from 48.3% in the previous quarter, according to ATTOM’s fourth quarter 2024 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report.
That quarterly decline was experienced in 33 states, though the share of homes considered equity-rich increased in 41 states on an annual basis, rising 1.6% from 46.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023. The equity-rich portion of homes in early 2020 stood at 26.5%.
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%).
“Nearly half of all residential mortgage payers in the U.S. 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,” commented Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM.
Meanwhile, the share of mortgaged homes considered seriously underwater remained unchanged from the previous quarter at 2.5%. The share of homes considered seriously underwater by ATTOM was 2.6% in late 2023. “Seriously underwater” describes homes with combined estimated balances of loans secured by properties that were at least 25% more than those properties’ estimated market values.
While the last quarter of 2024 was “pretty much a holding pattern for the housing market,” Barber continued, “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.”
Deeper In The Home Equity Data
Home prices continuing to rise across the U.S. suggest equity levels could rise further, though economists have forecasted a sustained deceleration in home prices over 2025 and 2026.
The largest annual decreases in the portion of equity-rich homes were observed in Florida (down 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%). In Sun Belt markets like Florida and Texas, rising inventory has softened the market and slowed price gains.
In the fourth quarter, approximately one in 39 mortgaged homes was considered seriously underwater, “barely changed” from the one in 40 during the third quarter and one in 38 a year earlier, and “far better than the one-in-15 recorded in 2020.”
The largest year-over-year improvements in seriously underwater mortgages came in Wyoming, where the share fell from 8.8% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024, Mississippi (down from 8% to 6.4%), Louisiana (down from 10.9% to 9.5%), Missouri (down from 5.6% to 4.5%) and Illinois (down from 5.1% to 4.%).
The largest annual increases in the share of seriously underwater homes during the fourth quarter of 2024 were in Kansas (up from 2.8% to 4.%), Utah (up from 2% to 2.5%), Idaho (up from 2.3% to 2.7%), Georgia (up from 2.5% to 2.8%) and Florida (up from 1.3% to 1.6 %).
The states with the highest shares of equity-rich homes were concentrated in the northeastern and western U.S., to include Vermont (86.7%), New Hampshire (61.4%), Maine (61.1%), Rhode Island (60.8%), and Montana (60.1%).
Meanwhile, nine of the 10 states with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties during the fourth quarter of 2024 were in the midwestern or southern U.S., to include Louisiana (22.4%), Alaska (31.5%), North Dakota (32.4%), Maryland (32.6%), and Illinois (33%).
At least half of all mortgaged homes are considered equity-rich in more than 40% of U.S. zip codes, though the Midwest and South regions carried 19 of the 20 states with the highest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the fourth quarter, the top five being Louisiana (9.5%), Mississippi (6.4%), Kentucky (6.1%), Arkansas (5%), and Iowa (5.3%).
