Good news for 946,000 home owners

Another sign of the improving housing market came this week, as reported in this MarketWatch article 900,000 homes regain equity, about a report from CoreLogic that in the second quarter of 2014 some 946,000 home owners moved out of a negative equity position, meaning their houses were now worth more than their mortgage.

This reduces the number of homes with negative equity, country-wide, to 5.31 million, or 11% of homes with mortgages, down from a peak of 25% in late 2011. Five States – Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Rhode Island – account for about 1/3 of the total.

CoreLogic points out that nearly 20% of the houses with positive equity have only a modest amount, so there is no prospect of mass usage of home equity to finance other investments.

I think the message is that the housing market continues a steady improvements after the sharp recovery from an oversold position 2-3 years ago.

If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected].

Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty

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