Article originally posted on azbigmedia.com on December 4th, 2021

Eight of the top 10 states where the equity-rich share of mortgaged homes rose most from the second quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2021 were in the West and South. States with the biggest increases were Utah, where the portion of mortgaged homes considered equity-rich rose from 45.5 percent in the second quarter of 2021 to 60.9 percent in the third quarter, Arizona (up from 39.7 percent to 53.2 percent), Idaho (up from 54.2 percent to 65.1 percent), North Carolina (up from 28.4 percent to 38.6 percent) and Nevada (up from 34.9 percent to 44.9 percent).

The states where the equity-rich share of mortgaged homes decreased most from the second to the third quarter of this year were Kansas (down from 31.4 percent to 27.1 percent), Wyoming (down from 29.5 percent to 25.8 percent), Mississippi (down from 26.6 percent to 23 percent), Montana (down from 40.8 percent to 38.5 percent) and California (down from 53.8 percent to 52.1 percent).

2021 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that 39.5 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the third quarter, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than 50 percent of their estimated market value.

The portion of mortgaged homes that were equity-rich in the third quarter of 2021 – one in three – was up from 34.4 percent in the second quarter of 2021 and from 28.3 percent in the third quarter of 2020.

The report also shows that just 3.4 percent of mortgaged homes, or one in 29, were considered seriously underwater in the third quarter of 2021, with a combined estimated balance of loans secured by the property of at least 25 percent more than the property’s estimated market value. That was down from 4.1 percent of all U.S. homes with a mortgage in the prior quarter and 6 percent, or one 17 properties, a year ago.

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