Mortgage borrowers in the U.S. saw the equity in their homes increase by a total of $766 billion in the second quarter – an increase of 10.6% compared with the second quarter of 2016, according to CoreLogic.
About 63% of all homeowners in the U.S. have a mortgage, according to the software, data and analytics firm.
On average, a homeowner gained about $12,987 in equity between the second quarter of 2016 and the second quarter of this year.
As is to be expected, borrowers in areas where home values increased made greater progress in building equity than borrowers in areas where home price growth was stagnant.
For example, borrowers in the state of Washington gained an average of approximately $40,000 in home equity, while borrowers in California gained approximately $30,000 in home equity.
The total number of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity decreased 10% in the second quarter, to 2.8 million homes, or 5.4% of all mortgaged properties.
Year-over-year, negative equity decreased 21.9% from 3.6 million homes, or 7.1% of all mortgaged properties.
“Over the last 12 months, approximately 750,000 borrowers achieved positive equity,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “This means that mortgage risk continues to decline and, given the continued strength in home prices, CoreLogic expects home equity to rise steadily over the next year.”