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42 DS News is the only publication in the country solely dedicated to providing default servicing professionals with news and content focused on their industry. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Call 214.525.6766 or subscribe online at DSNews.com. SUBSCRIBE TO THE LEADER IN DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS HOME EQUITY RISES TO $726 BILLION Home equity has increased by $227 billion in the third quarter of 2016—a jump of 3.1 percent over Q2, according to recent data from CoreLogic. Year over year, equity rose by a total of $726 billion, or 10.8 percent. e most equity growth occurred on the West Coast. While the average homeowner saw equity rise by about $13,000, those in California, Washington, and Oregon had increases between $25,000 and $30,000. "ere was wide geographic variation, with homeowners in California, Oregon, and Washington gaining an average of at least $25,000 in home equity wealth, while owners in Alaska, North Dakota, and Connecticut had small declines, on average," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist for CoreLogic. e San Francisco metro area had the highest percentage of positive-equity properties with 99.4 percent. Positive home equity is more likely with properties priced about $200,000, according to CoreLogic's data, where 96 percent of homes are in the positive. Only 90 percent of those less than $200,000 have positive equity. Rising refinances and home prices have likely played a role in the recent uptick of equity across the nation, according to former CoreLogic CEO and President Anand Nallathambi. "Price appreciation is the main ingredient for home equity wealth creation, and home prices rose 5.8 percent in the year ending September 2016, according to the CoreLogic Home Price Index," Nallathambi said. "Paydown of principal is the second key component of equity building. Many homeowners have refinanced into shorter- term loans, such as a 15-year loan, and by doing so, they have significantly fewer mortgage payments and are able to build equity wealth faster." CoreLogic's data showed the number of homeowners with negative equity decreased in Q 3 2016, too. Nearly 400,000 borrowers moved out of negative equity, bringing the percentage of homes with positive equity to 93.7 percent across the country. By the end of Q 3, the national aggregate value of negative equity was $282 billion, a drop of $2.1 billion over the quarter and $25 billion year over year. In total, there were 3.2 million properties with negative equity—a decrease of 10.7 percent since Q2 2016 and 24.1 percent year over year. e highest percentage of negative equity properties was found in Nevada with 14.2 percent, followed by Florida with 12.5 percent and Illinois with 10.6 percent. e Miami, Florida, market had 17 percent of its mortgage properties with negative equity. The total balance of outstanding first mortgages is $8.43 trillion, a year-over-year increase of 2.4 percent, according to Equifax's U.S. Consumer Trends report. KNOW THIS

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