US homeowners with mortgage gain a collective $1 trln in equity in 2020

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 has seen the largest equity gain for American homeowners in more than six years.

In the United States, 63% of properties are owned by homeowners with mortgages. According to research data analysed and published by Finaria, homeowners have seen their equity go up by 10.8% gaining a collective equity of $1 trln. On average, each homeowner has gained an equity of $17,000.

States with the highest equity gain include Washington, California and Massachusetts. Homeowners in these states have gained average equity of $35,800, $33,800 and $31,200 year-over-year (YoY), respectively.

In previous years, November has always seen a slowdown in the housing market. However, that is not the case in 2020. The markets remained hyperactive despite the economic uncertainty and the hotly contested elections.

According to Zillow, from November to December 2020, inventory went down by 7%. During the week ending November 14, there was a 12.6% YoY increase in the median listing prices, followed by a 13.1 % YoY increase in the median listing prices during the week ending November 21 and also the week ending November 28.

The national median listing price for November 2020 was $348,000. This was up by 12.7% as compared to last year’s figure.

Based on a study by Realtor.com, there will be a rise in home values by 7% during the 12 months that will end in

September 2021. Homes are expected to continue being the hot selling products as compared to hotels, offices, commercial buildings and rentals.

Lastly, a report from 43 economists and 37 leading real estate organisations predict that price listings will grow at an average of 4.1% over the next three years. This figure is well above the long-standing average of 3.9%.