The first quarter of 2021 was a good time to be a homeowner, according to the latest date from the CoreLogic Homeowner Equity Report (CL)
- Equity in mortgaged real estate increased by $1.9 trillion in Q1 2021. On an annualized basis, equity increased by 19.6%.
- The average annual gain in equity was $33,400 per borrower. The highest in ten years.
In even better news (unless you’re a crash bro), the negative equity share of mortgaged properties fell to the lowest number since they started tracking it in 2009…
- Q-O-Q: Negative equity decreased by 7% from the fourth quarter of 2020 to 1.4 million homes.
- Y-O-Y: Negative equity fell by 24% from 1.8 million homes in the first quarter of 2020.
According to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, only 2.1 million homeowners are currently in forbearance plans. Based on the CoreLogic equity report, if every homeowner currently in forbearance could no longer afford their mortgage payment only 1.4 million would have to foreclose. The other 700,000 have positive equity.
Considering that Freddie Mac puts the house inventory deficit at 4 million. I’m not sure 1.4 million foreclosure would be all the impactful on the market. In fact, as I have said many of times, those houses would probably be welcomed with open arms.