176: With Home Equity at an All-Time High, Will Homeowners “Lock-In” Even More? w/Molly Boesel

Home equity just hit an all-time high for Americans. And while this is great for homeowners, what effects could this have on the housing market? Will house hoarding become a new trend as homeowners “lock in” with their rock-bottom mortgage rates? Will those who are equity-rich take their profits and move to cheaper markets, causing prices to skyrocket as they bid higher than local buyers can? Molly Boesel, Principal Economist at CoreLogic, is on to answer these questions and more! CoreLogic’s latest Homeowner Equity Insights report has a clear takeaway: Americans are equity rich—really equity rich. On average, American homeowners have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in home equity, with some of the priciest housing markets having millions! This is causing a new type of investor, the “accidental investor,” that could keep housing supply locked up. Molly gives her take on why so many homeowners are refusing to sell, whether or not mortgage rates will fall substantially next year, when refinancing will finally start to rise again, and if foreclosure risk is even a relevant worry in today’s rock-solid economy. In This Episode We Cover: Latest homeowner equity numbers that put owners and sellers in an even better position The most and least home-equity-rich housing markets in America Foreclosure risk and how “negative equity” completely flipped since the Great Recession The rise of “accidental investors” who are keeping more housing supply to themselves Molly’s strong mortgage rate prediction and where she thinks rates will be by the end of this year Whether or not equity could explode once again as buyers get back into the market And So Much More! Links from the Show Find an Agent Find a Lender BiggerPockets Forums BiggerPockets Agent BiggerPockets Bootcamps Join BiggerPockets for FREE On The Market Join the Future of Real Estate Investing with Fundrise Connect with Other Investors in the “On The Market” Forums Subscribe to The “On The Market” YouTube Channel Dave's BiggerPockets Profile Dave's Instagram Kathy's BiggerPockets Profile Kathy's Instagram Home Equity: What It Is, How To Calculate, & How To Use It Nearly Half of U.S. Mortgaged Homes Are Considered ‘Equity-Rich’ According to Report CoreLogic’s Latest “Homeowner Equity Insights” Report Connect with Molly: Molly's LinkedIn CoreLogic Click here to listen to the full episode: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/on-the-market-176 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices