by Calculated Risk on 12/07/2017 09:51:00 AM

From CoreLogic: CoreLogic Reports Homeowner Equity Increased by Almost $871 Billion in Q3 2017

CoreLogic® ... today released its Q3 2017 home equity analysis which shows that U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63 percent of all homeowners*) have collectively seen their equity increase 11.8 percent year over year, representing a gain of $870.6 billion since Q3 2016.

Additionally, homeowners gained an average of $14,888 in home equity between Q3 2016 and Q3 2017. Western states led the increase, while no state experienced a decrease. Washington homeowners gaining an average of approximately $40,000 in home equity and California homeowners gaining an average of approximately $37,000 in home equity.

On a quarter-over-quarter basis, from Q2 2017 to Q3 2017, the total number of mortgaged homes in negative equity decreased 9 percent to 2.5 million homes, or 4.9 percent of all mortgaged properties. Year over year, negative equity decreased 22 percent from 3.2 million homes, or 6.3 percent of all mortgaged properties, from Q3 2016 to Q3 2017.

“Homeowner equity increased by almost $871 billion over the last 12 months, the largest increase in more than three years,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “This increase is primarily a reflection of rising home prices, which drives up home values, leading to an increase in home equity positions and supporting consumer spending.”
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the distribution of home equity in Q3 2017 compared to Q2 2017.

For reference, about five years ago, in Q3 2012, almost 10% of residential properties had 25% or more negative equity.

A year ago, in Q3 2016, there were 3.2 million properties with negative equity - now there are 2.5 million.  A significant change.