If you’re feeling richer this Christmas, it may be because of your house.

The average Dallas-area homeowner added $5,200 in property equity — the difference between their mortgage balance and the home value — during the last year, according to a new report by CoreLogic.

That’s more than the average Texas homeowner equity increase of $4,600.

U.S. homeowners have gained nearly $457 billion in property equity since the third quarter of 2018 as home values across the country have continued to rise, CoreLogic reports..

And the fewest percentage of homeowners since the recession are underwater on the debt on their properties.

“Ten years ago, during the depths of the Great Recession, more than 11 million homeowners had negative equity or 25% of mortgaged homes,” Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in the report. “After more than eight years of rising home prices and employment growth, underwater owners have been slashed to just 2 million, or less than 4% of mortgaged homes.”

It’s even less in the Dallas area, where just 1.35% of homeowners owe more than their house is worth.

See the full Dallas News article

By Steve Brown

7:07 AM on Dec 12, 2019