On the identical time, the share of significantly underwater mortgages edged up modestly. Roughly 3% of mortgaged houses had mortgage balances at the very least 25% larger than their estimated worth — up from 2.8% the earlier quarter.
ATTOM’s report mentioned This autumn 2025 marked the bottom share of equity-rich properties since late 2021 whereas emphasizing that general fairness ranges proceed to match favorably with historic benchmarks.
In early 2020, solely about one-quarter of mortgaged houses had been thought of fairness wealthy.
“After years of speedy beneficial properties, home-owner fairness is settling right into a extra sustainable vary, and that’s not a destructive signal for the market,” mentioned Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “Even with a modest pullback in equity-rich properties and a slight uptick in significantly underwater houses, general fairness ranges stay remarkably robust by historic requirements.
“As we transfer towards the spring shopping for season, these numbers recommend a housing market that’s stabilizing somewhat than overheating, giving owners a stable monetary basis whereas permitting for more healthy market dynamics.”
Lengthy-term information exhibits equity-rich mortgages climbing from roughly 27% in 2019 to almost 50% by 2022 as home prices surged nationwide.
Throughout the identical interval, the charges for significantly underwater houses had been lower by greater than half earlier than leveling off close to historic lows.
Most states see declines in equity-rich shares
Between the third and fourth quarters of 2025, the portion of equity-rich mortgaged houses declined in 42 of 49 states, usually by lower than 2 share factors. The identical variety of states additionally recorded year-over-year decreases.
The most important year-over-year declines occurred in Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, New Mexico and Arizona. Against this, modest beneficial properties had been scattered throughout the Northeast and Midwest — with will increase reported in Alaska, North Dakota, Illinois, South Dakota and New York.
States with the very best equity-rich charges continued to cluster within the Northeast and West.
Vermont led the nation with 87% of its mortgaged houses thought of fairness wealthy, adopted by New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine and Montana.
Greater than half of mortgaged houses had been fairness wealthy in states like New York, Massachusetts, Hawaii, California and Idaho.
Decrease equity-rich shares had been extra widespread within the Midwest and South. Louisiana ranked final at 20.1% — with Maryland, the District of Columbia, Kentucky and Iowa additionally close to the underside.
Underwater mortgages keep close to historic lows
Significantly underwater charges modified little nationally, underscoring ongoing stability.
Enhancements had been recorded in states corresponding to North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho, whereas the biggest will increase occurred in Mississippi, Kentucky, the District of Columbia, Louisiana and Maryland.
States with the very best underwater charges had been concentrated within the Midwest and South — led by Louisiana at 10.7%.
The bottom charges had been discovered largely within the Northeast and West, with Vermont at 0.7% and several other different states beneath 2%.
