Homeowners Are Sitting on Their Equity

The average homeowner with a mortgage saw his or her home equity gain $4,900 in just a year, says CoreLogic.

Borrower equity rose to an all-time high during the first half of the year and more than doubled since the housing recovery started. But the amount of untapped equity hit a record $6.3 trillion, per a separate report from Black Knight.

“Rates are once again at another all-time low, yet interestingly enough, most homeowners are not taking advantage of the opportunity to inexpensively tap into their homes equity,” said Matt Weaver, vice president of sales at CrossCountry Mortgage in Boca Raton, Florida. “My observation has been that the driving force behind this decision-making is based on residual fear from the last real estate crash. This event has since shifted the perspective of many homeowners to now view home equity as a nest egg rather than a bank account."

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