Equity Reaches Record Levels in the United States

"Over the course of 2017, the amount of money a borrower can take out of a home while still leaving 20 percent in it, which is what most lenders require, rose by $735 billion, the largest annual increase by dollar value on record," reports Diana Olnick. The quick rise in equity "brought the collective amount of so-called tappable equity to $5.4 trillion, which is 10 percent more than at the pre-recession peak in 2005."

Olnick is sharing findings from a report by financial analytics company Black Knight.  

According to the report, homeowners are far more conservative than they were in the years leading up to the Great Recession. "Last year, even with record equity, homeowners took out only $262 billion via cash-out refinances or home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs. While that is another post-recession peak in dollars, it is less than 1.25 percent of all available equity, a four-year low."

The article includes more insight into the consequences of the finding, as well as some prognostication about what to expect in the housing industry as homeowners adjust to this new wealth.