CoreLogic Reports 268,000 US Homeowners Regained Equity in the First Quarter of 2016

4 Million Properties Remain in Negative Equity

268,000 homeowners regained equity in Q1 2016, bringing the total number of mortgaged residential properties with equity at the end of Q1 2016 to approximately 46.7 million, or 92 percent of all mortgaged properties. Nationwide, home equity increased year over year by $762 billion in Q1 2016.

The total number of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity stood at 4 million, or 8 percent of all homes with a mortgage, in Q1 2016. This is a decrease of 6.2 percent quarter over quarter from 4.3 million homes, or 8.5 percent, in Q4 2015* and a decrease of 21.5 percent year over year from 5.1 million homes, or 10.3 percent, compared with Q1 2015.

For the homes in negative equity status, the national aggregate value of negative equity was $299.5 billion at the end of Q1 2016, falling approximately $11.8 billion, or 3.8 percent, from $311.3 billion in Q4 2015.

Of the more than 50 million homes with a mortgage, approximately 9.1 million, or 18 percent, have less than 20 percent equity (referred to as “under-equitied”) and 1.1 million, or 2.2 percent, have less than 5 percent equity (referred to as near-negative equity).

“More than 1 million homeowners have escaped the negative equity trap over the past year. We expect this positive trend to continue over the balance of 2016 and into next year as home prices continue to rise,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

Nevada had the highest percentage of homes in negative equity at 17.5 percent, followed by Florida (15 percent), Illinois (14.4 percent), Rhode Island (13.3 percent) and Maryland (12.9 percent). Combined, these top five states account for 30.2 percent of negative equity in the U.S., but only 16.5 percent of outstanding mortgages.

Texas had the highest percentage of homes with positive equity at 98.1 percent, followed by Alaska (97.8 percent), Hawaii (97.8 percent), Colorado (97.5 percent) and Washington (97.2 percent).