Home equity gains moderate in third quarter

Home
equity
gains
continue
to
be
at
all-time
highs
compared
to
years
prior,
but
they
are
starting
to
moderate,
a
report
said.

Equity
slightly
dipped,
with
48.3%
of
mortgaged
residential
properties
considered
equity-rich
in
the
third
quarter,
slightly
down
from
a
peak
of
49.2%
reported
in
the
quarter
prior,
according
to
Attom
Data
Solutions.

Third
quarter
results
are
still
significantly
higher
compared
to
the
26.5%
level
recorded
in
early
2020.

Rob
Barber,
CEO
for
Attom,
said
the
findings
correlate
with
a
slight


cooling
of
home
prices
observed
in
recent
months.

“Homeowner
equity
typically
mirrors
home-price
trends,
and
the
third
quarter
of
this
year
followed
that
pattern,”
said
Rob
Barber,
CEO
for
ATTOM,
in
a
press
release. “Despite
the
flat
pattern,
home
equity
keeps
providing
a
significant
boost
to
the
economy
in
the
form
of
financial
leverage
that
tens
of
millions
of
households
can
use
to
finance
major
purchases
or
investments.”

Barber
said
he
expects
to
see “small
movements
up
or
down
over
the
coming
months
as
the
housing
market
moves
into
its
annual
slow
season.”A
similar
pattern
is
emerging
with
mortgages
considered
seriously
underwater,
Attom
said.
Only
2.5%
of
mortgaged
homes
were
grouped
in
this
category,
a
slightly
worse
outcome
than
2.4%
recorded


in
the
second
quarter.

Annual
increases
in
home
equity
were
concentrated
in
low-
and
mid-priced
markets,
particularly
in
the
Midwest
and
Northeast
regions,
the
data
vendor
said.

In
Vermont,
homes
experienced
the
largest
value
spike,
with
86.4%
considered
equity-rich
in
the
third
quarter,
up
from
79.8%
a
year
earlier.
West
Virginia,
Connecticut,
and
Rhode
Island
also
reported
significant
increases
in
value.

In
contrast,
western
states
saw
declines
in
equity.

In
Utah,
the
percentage
of
equity-rich
homes
dropped
to
52.4%,
down
from
56.8%
the
previous
year.
Arizona
properties
fell
to
50%
from
54.3%,
and
Colorado
homes
declined
from
51.1%
to
48%,
according
to
Attom.

Regarding
underwater
properties,
a
mere
one
in
40
houses
were
in
this
category
nationwide.
A
measure
well
below
the
ratio
of
one
in
15
recorded
in
2020
by
the
data
vendor.

The
largest
increases
year-over-year
in
the
percentage
of
seriously
underwater
homes
were
seen
in
Kansas,
Utah,
South
Dakota,
Missouri
and
Colorado.
These
spikes
were
minimal.

Meanwhile,
states
with
the
biggest
annual
improvements
were
seen
in
Wyoming,
West
Virginia,
Louisiana
and
New
Jersey.