Borrowers with mortgages gained more than $280 billion in home equity last year, but homeowners in some states were much better off due to changes in home values.
Homeowners with mortgages saw their home equity grow by an average of $4,100 in 2024 from 2023, an increase of around 1.7%, according to a report from property-data firm CoreLogic.
Still, the gains at the end of 2024 were smaller than the average home equity increase of $6,000 in the third quarter of 2023.
Moderating home price appreciation was the reason that equity growth slowed in 2024 compared with 2020 to 2023, said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic, in the report.
"But homeowners maintain substantial equity gains from prior years, preserving their strong financial position," she said.
Homes in the Northeast, upper Midwest, California and Nevada had the strongest equity gains in 2024, while the South, including Florida and Texas, had big declines, CoreLogic said.
New Jersey had the biggest average gain in home equity with $39,436, followed by Connecticut ($36,297), Massachusetts ($34,401), Rhode Island ($32,877) and Maine ($30,231).
On the other hand, Hawaii had the biggest decline in average home equity with -$28,713, followed by Florida (-$18,055), Washington D.C. (-$14,679), Texas (-$10,357) and Louisiana (-$6,770).
For example, a number of Florida home markets, including Cape Coral, Saratosa, Lakeland and Tampa, have suffered weakening home prices in 2024, CoreLogic said, causing average home equity to decline.
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