U.S. mortgage holders lost $1.3 trillion in recently gained home equity in the third quarter, according to mortgage software and analytics company Black Knight.
“That is — by far — the largest quarterly decline on record by dollar value and the largest since 2009 on a percentage basis,” Black Knight Data & Analytics President Ben Graboske said.
Housing prices shot up during the pandemic, and now with interest rates rising, prices are starting to come down again.
Mortgage holders have lost $1.5 trillion in equity, or 8.4%, since the May 2022 peak, but home values in the 50 largest markets are still 19% to 66% higher than before the pandemic.
The average mortgage holder has lost $30,000 since May, but still holds more than $92,000 more equity than before the pandemic.
“The vast majority of homes at risk of falling underwater are those that were purchased in 2022 and late 2021, at or near pandemic-era peak prices,” Graboske said.
