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The MReport Webcast: Friday 7/15/2016

Borrowers in owner-occupied homes are sitting on trillions worth of accessible home equity by today’s lending standards—but not all of the country's housing wealth is equally distributed, according to the Urban Institute. About 64 percent, or 7 trillion dollars out of 11 trillion, in home equity is accessible to 52 million owners of owner-occupied homes nationwide—which calculates to about 150 thousand dollars per homeowner.

The study revealed that the nation’s home equity is highly concentrated geographically, by household, and by age. Geographically, most of the accessible housing wealth in the U.S. was concentrated in four states: California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Also, about half of accessible home equity is concentrated in 10 percent of owner-occupied homes, and homeowners over age 65 hold about 44 percent of accessible housing wealth.

After a short ride on the rollercoaster triggered by June’s Brexit vote, mortgage rates have steadied but are still hovering just above historic lows, according to the latest numbers from Freddie Mac. The newest Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that average 30-years fixed mortgage rates largely held steady at an average 3 point 42 percent for the week ending July 14. This is up from last week’s average of 3 point 41, which is only 10 basis points higher than the all-time low set nearly four years ago.