Homeowners with mortgages saw a combined equity gain of nearly $4 trillion in the first quarter, a 32.2% jump year over year.

CoreLogic reported U.S. homeowners with mortgages saw their equity increase by 32.2% year over year, representing a collective equity gain of $3.8 trillion and an average gain of $63,600 per borrower. “Price growth is the key ingredient for the creation of home equity wealth,” said Patrick Dodd, President and CEO of CoreLogic. “Home prices were up by 20% in March compared to one year earlier in CoreLogic’s national Home Price Index. This has led to the largest one-year gain in average home equity wealth for owners and is expected to spur a record amount of home-improvement spending this year.”

The company’s Homeowner Equity Report noted U.S. home prices continued their upward trajectory in the first quarter, with year-over-year growth averaging nearly 20%, allowing 62,000 owners to regain equity compared with the previous quarter. Only 2% of homeowners with a mortgage remain underwater, a slight decline from the fourth quarter. The report said from the fourth quarter to the first quarter, mortgaged homes in negative equity decreased by 5.3% to 1.1 million homes, or 2% of all mortgaged properties. A year ago, 1.4 million homes, or 2.6% of all mortgaged properties, were in negative equity. This number decreased by 23%, or 300,000 properties, in the first quarter. CoreLogic said should home prices increase by 5% in the second quarter, 130,000 homes would regain equity; if home prices decline by 5%, 167,000 properties would fall underwater.

Source: CoreLogic