While Florida homeowners still have a relatively stronger position compared to the average U.S. homeowner, it is worth noting that the average U.S. homeowner with a mortgage experienced a decrease in home equity for the first time in over a decade. According to real estate data tracker CoreLogic, among the approximately 63% of U.S. homes with a mortgage, the average homeowner equity per borrower was $274,070 in the first quarter. This figure reflects a 1.9% decline from the same quarter in the previous year.
The last instance of a year-over-year decline in average homeowner equity occurred in the first quarter of 2012. During that period, the housing market was still recovering from the mortgage meltdown and subsequent foreclosure crisis that contributed to the Great Recession.
In total, U.S. homeowners with a mortgage collectively experienced a loss of $108.4 billion in home equity between the first quarter of the previous year and the first three months of 2023. This represents a 0.7% decrease, as reported by CoreLogic. Homeowner equity, which represents the property’s current value minus the outstanding mortgage balance, tends to fluctuate in line with changes in home prices.
Despite the decline in home equity, the number of homeowners who found themselves “underwater” on their mortgage, meaning they owed more on their loan than the worth of their home, remained stable between the fourth quarter and first quarter, at approximately 1.2 million homes or around 2.1% of properties with a mortgage, according to CoreLogic.