Black Knight reported that across the U.S., those who have a mortgage on their home gained $1.6 Trillion in equity in 2023. They now collectively have a total of $16 Trillion which is the highest year end total on record. Two thirds of this group is held by borrowers with credit scores of 760 or higher. Also mentioned was that the average mortgage holder now has about $300,000 in equity of which about $195,000 is accessible and could be withdrawn with products such as a cash out refi, a Home Equity Loan, or a Home Equity Line of Credit while still maintaining a good 20% equity share. In addition, the combined loan to value that people have on average for mortgage holders is 46% which proves the point of accessible equity. Black Knight estimates that there are 1.7 million people who could benefit right now from at least a 75-basis point drop in rate or 0.75% and that this number would go up to 3.8 million if rates go to 6%. Refinance and the ability to unlock or access equity are certainly increasing and only getting stronger as home values continue to increase and as interest rates slowly improve.
Speaking of equity, CoreLogic reported that home prices fell 0.1% in December and are now up 5.5% year over year. CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will fall by 0.2% in January and will rise by 2.8% over the next 12 months, which is an increase from 2.5% in the previous report. Black Knight released their appreciation data for the months of November and December, which showed that home values rose 0.1% in each of those months. Black Knight is showing that home values rose 5.6% year over year.
Source : https://bit.ly/42wIWXp
By: Jon Iacono