Underwater Homes Have Equity Again

About 273,000 homes returned to positive equity in the third quarter of 2014, bringing the total to 44.6 million of all properties with a mortgage, according to a newly released equity report. That number represents around 90 percent of all mortgaged properties nationwide. If home prices rose by 5 percent more—which is largely predicted to happen this year—an additional 1 million home owners now in negative equity would also move into positive territory. “This should hopefully translate into less friction in the housing market as we move forward. Better fundamentals supporting home ownership in the face of higher rents should attract more first-time home buyers to the market this year and next.”