You might think of California and other Sunbelt states as the hottest real estate markets, and maybe they are, but the latest CoreLogic analysis finds that, when it comes to equity appreciation, the Northeast -- specifically, Maine -- led the nation in the second quarter this year.
Yes, you read that right. States in the Northeast saw the strongest annual home price growth in the second quarter. Maine led the charge for largest average national equity gain ($57,500), followed by California ($55,300) and New Jersey ($52,600).
Three states posted annual equity losses: Texas (-$2,600), Oklahoma (-$7,700), and North Dakota (-$8,400).
CoreLogic's Homeowner Equity Report (HER) for the second quarter shows that U.S. homeowners with mortgages (which account for roughly 62% of all properties) saw home equity increase by 8.0% year over year, representing a collective gain of $1.3 trillion and an average increase of $25,000 per borrower since the second quarter of 2023, bringing thetotal net homeowner equity to over $17.6 trillion in the second quarter of 2024.
“Persistent home price growth has continued to fuel home equity gains for existing homeowners who now average about $315,000 in equity and almost $129,000 more than at the onset of the pandemic.” said Dr. Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic.
Given all that homeowners are facing currently -- skyrocketing insurance costs, wildfire and storm worries, rising taxes and inflationary maintenance expenses -- the equity gains are "an important financial buffer in times of uncertainty," Hepp said.
Even though some homeowners have had to tap into their equity to prevent falling behind on their mortgages, delinquency rates have remained at historic lows.
Negative equity has continued to see a recent decrease across the country. Las Vegas and Los Angeles are the least challenged, with negative equity shares of all mortgages at 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively.