ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its second quarter 2024 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that 49.2 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the second quarter, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than half of their estimated market values.

The portion of mortgaged homeowners in equity-rich territory during the second quarter of 2024 rose from 45.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024, matching a high point reached in the Spring of last year. The increase reversed a series of three straight quarterly declines and marked one of the best gains in the past five years.

While equity-rich levels improved, the report also reveals that the portion of home mortgages that were seriously underwater in the U.S. declined to 2.4 percent during the second quarter, or just one in 42. That was down from 2.7 percent in the prior quarter to the lowest level since at least 2019. Seriously underwater mortgages are those with combined estimated balances of loans secured by properties that are at least 25 percent more than those properties' estimated market values.

The second-quarter equity gains came as home prices spiked during the 2024 Spring buying season, with the median national price shooting up 9 percent quarterly to a new record of $365,000. Rising prices helped raise equity levels throughout most of the country by widening the gap between the estimated value of homes and the amounts homeowners owed on their loans.

"Homeowner wealth took a notable turn for the better during the second quarter as equity levels piggybacked on some of the biggest home-price spikes we've seen in recent years," said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. "After a period where equity seemed stagnant or even declining, this brought another boost of good news for homeowners from the enduring housing market boom. Supplies of homes for sale remain limited these days and buyer demand is typically elevated during the Summertime. So, it should be no surprise if home values go even higher and take equity along for the ride."

The latest market pattern reflects a period when the housing market rebounded from several sluggish quarters of price gains and losses. Values surged amid a tight supply of homes combined with the usual Springtime increase in buyer demand. Additional help came from relatively stable home-mortgage rates that hovered back and forth around 7 percent for a 30-year fixed loan as well as a national unemployment rate that fell below 4 percent and investment markets that hit new highs.

Equity-rich shares of mortgages climb throughout U.S.

The portion of mortgages that were equity-rich increased in 48 of the 50 U.S. states from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024, commonly by more than two percentage points. Measured annually, equity-rich levels were up in 31 states as the nationwide figure of 49.2 percent equity-rich in the second quarter of this year matched the portion from the second quarter of 2023. 

The biggest quarterly increases came in lower-priced markets, mainly across the South and Midwest regions, led by Kentucky (where the portion of mortgaged homes considered equity-rich increased from 28.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 37.4 percent in the second quarter of 2024), Illinois (up from 28.3 percent to 36.1 percent), Missouri (up from 38.3 percent to 45.5 percent), Oklahoma (up from 28.1 percent to 34.5 percent) and Alabama (up from 35.7 percent to 41.9 percent).

At the other end of the scale, equity-rich levels remained the same in two states (staying at 54 percent in Utah and 51.5 percent in South Dakota). The smallest increases were in North Dakota (up from 31.5 percent to 32 percent), California (up from 58.6 percent to 59.4 percent) and Louisiana (up from 20.1 percent to 21 percent).

Seriously underwater mortgage levels also improve in most states

The portion of mortgaged homes considered seriously underwater declined nationwide during the second quarter of 2024 to one in 42. That was down from one in 37 in the first quarter of 2024 and one in 36 in the second quarter of last year – well below the ratio of one in 15 recorded in 2019. The rate decreased in 47 states quarterly and 37 states annually.

As with rising equity-rich levels, the biggest decreases in seriously underwater mortgages were clustered mainly in the South and Midwest. The largest quarterly decreases were in Wyoming (share of mortgaged homes that were seriously underwater down from 8.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2024), Kentucky (down from 8.3 percent to 6.3 percent), Illinois (down from 5.2 percent to 4 percent), Oklahoma (down from 6.1 percent to 5 percent) and Alabama (down from 3.6 percent to 2.8 percent).

On the flip side, two states saw slight increases in the percentage of seriously underwater homes from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2024. They were Utah (up from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent) and South Dakota (up from 3 percent to 3.1 percent). The rate was unchanged in three states: New Mexico (2.6 percent), Kansas (2.9 percent) and Idaho (2.4 percent).

Largest levels of equity-rich homeowners still in higher-priced markets of Northeast and West

The 10 states with the highest levels of equity-rich mortgaged properties around the U.S. during the second quarter of 2024 again were in the Northeast or West regions. Those with the largest portions were Vermont (83.5 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich), Maine (61.5 percent), New Hampshire (61.1 percent), Montana (61.1 percent) and Rhode Island (60.2 percent).

Nine of the 10 states with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties during the second quarter of 2024 were in the Midwest or South. The smallest portions were in Louisiana (21 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich), Alaska (31 percent), North Dakota (32 percent), West Virginia (33.6 percent) and Oklahoma (34.5 percent).

Among 107 metropolitan statistical areas around the nation with a population of at least 500,000, upscale markets where median home values topped $400,000 again dominated the list of places with the highest portion of mortgaged properties that were equity-rich during the second quarter. (See ATTOM's latest Q2 2024 U.S. home sales report)

Those markets were led by San Jose, CA (70.4 percent equity-rich, with a second-quarter median home price of $1.6 million); Miami, FL (65.4 percent, with a median price of $485,000); San Diego, CA (65.4 percent, with a median price of $910,000); Los Angeles, CA (65.3 percent, with a median price of $963,500) and Portland, ME (65.1 percent, with a median price of $499,411).

The leader in the Midwest continued to be Grand Rapids, MI (57.2 percent equity-rich, with a median price of $325,000).

The metro areas with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties in the second quarter of 2024 remained mostly in low-priced markets of the South and Midwest. The smallest levels were in Baton Rouge, LA (17.5 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich, with a second-quarter median home price of $235,000); New Orleans, LA (27.1 percent, with a median price of $255,000); Jackson, MS (29.2 percent, with a median price of $262,421); Virginia Beach, VA (30.3 percent, with a median price of $329,000) and Little Rock, AR (32.5 percent, with a median price of $224,268).

The portion of mortgaged homes considered equity rich increased from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024 in 99 of the 107 metro areas with sufficient data (93 percent), but was still down from the second quarter of 2023 to the same period of 2024 in 57 percent.

Top equity-rich counties again concentrated in Midwest, Northeast and West

Among 1,747 counties that had at least 2,500 homes with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, the top 30 equity-rich locations were spread across the Midwest, Northeast or West regions, with Michigan and Vermont leading the way.

Counties with the highest share of equity-rich properties were Chittenden County (Burlington), VT (90.8 percent equity rich); Benzie County (Beulah), MI (89.2 percent); Manistee County, MI (86.6 percent); Washington County (Montpelier), VT (86.3 percent) and Marquette County, MI (85.4 percent).

Counties with populations of at least 500,000 and the highest equity-rich levels were Santa Clara County (San Jose), CA (71.4 percent equity-rich); Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) (69.9 percent); Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach), FL (68.2 percent); Miami-Dade County, FL (67.6 percent) and San Diego County, CA (65.4 percent).

Nineteen of the 20 counties with the smallest share of equity-rich homes in the second quarter of 2024 were in the South. The lowest were in Vernon Parish (Leesville), LA (5.4 percent equity rich); Long County, GA (south of Savannah) (9.2 percent); Ascension Parish, LA (outside Baton Rouge) (9.7 percent); Acadia Parish, LA (outside Lafayette) (10 percent) and Arkansas County, AR (east of Little Rock (10.7 percent).

Counties with populations of at least 500,000 and the smallest equity-rich portions were Cook County (Chicago), IL (34.8 percent equity-rich); Hennepin County (Minneapolis), MN (38.6 percent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (39 percent); Philadelphia County, PA (40.6 percent) and New York County (Manhattan), NY (43.1 percent).

At least 50 percent of all mortgaged properties considered equity-rich in almost half of all U.S. zip codes

Among 9,120 U.S. zip codes that had at least 2,000 residential properties with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, there were 4,263 (46.7 percent) where at least half the mortgaged properties were equity-rich.

Among the top 50 zip codes, 41 were in California, Florida or Texas, including five each in Santa Barbara, CA, and Irvine, CA. The largest shares were in zip codes 49855 in Marquette, MI (87.1 percent of mortgaged properties were equity-rich); 93110 in Santa Barbara, CA (86.2 percent); 92657 in Newport Coast, CA (85.9 percent); 57702 in Rapid City, SD (85.5 percent) and 76115 in Fort Worth, TX (85.4 percent).

Largest shares of seriously underwater mortgages continue in Midwest and South

The Midwest and South regions had 18 of the top 20 states with the highest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the second quarter of this year. The top five were Louisiana (10.5 percent seriously underwater), Mississippi (6.8 percent), Kentucky (6.3 percent), Arkansas (5.4 percent) and Iowa (5.2 percent).

The smallest shares were in Vermont (0.7 percent seriously underwater), Rhode Island (0.9 percent), New Hampshire (1 percent), Massachusetts (1.1 percent) and California (1.2 percent).

Among 107 metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 500,000, those with the largest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the second quarter of 2024 were Baton Rouge, LA (11 percent); New Orleans, LA (7.4 percent); Jackson, MS (6.1 percent); Little Rock, AR (4.7 percent) and Lexington, KY (4.7 percent).

More than 20 percent of residential mortgages seriously underwater in less than 1 percent zip codes

Among the 9,120 U.S. zip codes that had at least 2,000 homes with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, there were only 19 locations where more than 20 percent of mortgaged properties were seriously underwater.

The top five zip codes with the largest shares of seriously underwater properties in the second quarter of 2024 were 39180 in Vicksburg, MI (38.8 percent of mortgaged homes were seriously underwater); 42445 in Princeton, KY (36 percent); 71446 in Leesville, LA (33.4 percent); 44108 in Cleveland, OH (32.7 percent) and 44112 in Cleveland, OH (30 percent).

Report methodology

The ATTOM U.S. Home Equity & Underwater report provides counts of properties based on several categories of equity — or loan to value (LTV) — at the state, metro, county and zip code level, along with the percentage of total properties with a mortgage that each equity category represents. The equity/LTV is calculated based on record-level loan model estimating position and amount of loans secured by a property and a record-level automated valuation model (AVM) derived from publicly recorded mortgage and deed of trust data collected and licensed by ATTOM nationwide for more than 155 million U.S. properties. The ATTOM Home Equity and Underwater report has been updated and modified to better reflect a housing market focused on the traditional home buying process. ATTOM found that markets where investors were more prominent, they would offset the loan to value ratio due to sales involving multiple properties with a single jumbo loan encompassing all of the properties. Therefore, going forward such activity is now excluded from the reports in order to provide traditional consumer home purchase and loan activity.

Definitions

Seriously underwater: Loan to value ratio of 125 percent or above, meaning the property owner owed at least 25 percent more than the estimated market value of the property.

Equity-rich: Loan to value ratio of 50 percent or lower, meaning the property owner had at least 50 percent equity.