How home equity compares in each state

Canva Many American homeowners saw their wealth balloon over the last two years as the U.S. real estate market experienced an unprecedented frenzy. Homeowners living in less populous western states, in particular, saw their housing values soar as remote work allowed many white-collar workers the flexibility to move further from urban centers and acquire more space at more affordable prices. In Idaho, for example, home prices rose a whopping 41% between the third quarters of 2020 and 2022, respectively, according to Federal Housing Finance Agency data. Portland Real Estate examined real estate data platform ATTOM’s quarterly home equity report to see which states have the largest share of equity-rich homeowners in the third quarter of 2022. In the case of a tie, the raw number of homeowners was used. Even as growth in home prices has slowed in the second half of this year, most American homeowners still saw home equity increase. Households are considered equity-rich, or “house-rich,” when the property owner’s outstanding mortgage balance is half or less than the home’s estimated market value. Nationally, about 48.5% of homes with mortgages were considered equity-rich in the third quarter, the 10th straight quarter of gains. From 2002 to 2022, Americans have seen the portion of their wealth that’s tied up in residential real estate collectively grow by $20 trillion–an upward trend line that grew steeper in 2020 and 2021, according to the Federal Reserve. Many of the most equity-rich homeowners are located on the West Coast, while the Midwest and South have the fewest. In today’s high-interest-rate environment, homeowners have limited routes for tapping the equity they’ve built up in their homes. Home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, rose in popularity earlier this year but could become less attractive as interest rates climb higher. #51. Louisiana Allison J. Hahn // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 24.5% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 146,151 #50. Illinois Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 26.3% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 644,018 #49. Alaska CREATISTA // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 26.7% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 33,541 #48. West Virginia Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 29.3% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 38,435 #47. North Dakota northlight // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 30.9% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 34,985 #46. Iowa Mohamed R. Gohar // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 31.1% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 202,924 #45. Mississippi TLF Images // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 31.5% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 45,462 #44. Maryland tokar // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 31.5% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 461,131 #43. Kansas Lisa Eastman // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 34.0% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 122,784 #42. Delaware Felix Mizioznikov // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 34.2% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 76,696 #41. Oklahoma Vineyard Perspective // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 34.6% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 214,292 #40. Virginia Noel V. Baebler // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 34.9% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 603,296 #39. Connecticut Feng Cheng // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 35.5% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 293,288 #38. Wyoming Sascha Burkard // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 35.7% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 33,039 #36. Washington DC Suzanne Simon // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 36.6% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 39,577 #37. Arkansas shuttersv // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 36.6% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 155,525 #35. Ohio Denise Kappa // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 37.6% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 859,318 #34. Missouri LanaG // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 38.1% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 409,025 #33. Alabama M.S. Maklidrone // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 38.2% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 248,445 #32. Kentucky Anne Kitzman // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 38.4% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 238,027 #31. Pennsylvania Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 38.7% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 977,695 #30. Minnesota 719production // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 39.1% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 413,576 #29. New Jersey Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 40.2% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 742,225 #28. Nebraska Aspects and Angles // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 40.9% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 143,265 #27. South Dakota RyanWilson10 // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 41.8% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 20,200 #26. Wisconsin James Meyer // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 42.4% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 452,784 #25. Michigan T-I // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 44.0% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 814,323 #24. Indiana Lindasj22 // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 46.2% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 527,123 #23. New Mexico turtix // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 46.3% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 150,080 #22. New York Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 48.2% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 1,090,860 #21. South Carolina Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 48.8% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 431,314 #20. Georgia Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 50.7% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 959,655 #19. Montana Jim Cumming // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 51.5% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 53,671 #18. Rhode Island Jon Bilous // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 53.4% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 122,706 #17. North Carolina Gus Valente // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 54.0% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 995,545 #16. Massachusetts d murk photographs // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 54.3% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 838,201 #15. Oregon Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 55.0% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 417,557 #14. New Hampshire Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 55.1% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 157,349 #13. Colorado Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 55.4% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 739,926 #12. Nevada Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 55.8% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 348,239 #11. Texas Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 56.1% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 2,507,257 #10. Tennessee eakkarat rangram // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 57.1% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 748,126 #9. Maine Noel V. Baebler // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 57.5% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 153,431 #8. Hawaii Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 59.0% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 153,703 #7. California Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 60.6% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 4,015,264 #6. Washington Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 61.0% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 998,944 #5. Utah Jason Finn // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 62.0% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 385,344 #4. Florida Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 62.8% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 2,709,062 #3. Arizona Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 63.4% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 926,115 #2. Idaho Charles Knowles // Shutterstock – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 65.8% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 244,597 #1. Vermont Canva – Share of equity-rich homeowners: 75.9% – Total equity-rich homeowners: 14,036 This story originally appeared on Portland Real Estate and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.