New Jersey is one of only 11 states that had a year-over-year increase in the percentage of "equity-rich" homes, meaning combined loan balances secured by a mortgage on a residential property were no more than half the home’s estimated market value.
Attom, a curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, released its third-quarter 2025 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report last week showing only 46.1% of mortgaged U.S. homes are equity rich, down from 47.4% in Q2 and 48.3% in Q3 of 2024. The decline occurred even though the national median home price rose to a record $370,000.
However, New Jersey is among 11 states that bucked the national trend. New Jersey’s share of equity-rich homes increased 1.8 points from 52% in the third quarter of 2024 to 53.8% in the third quarter of 2025. Only Alaska (up 2.4 percentage points to 34.3%) had a higher rate of increase in equity-rich homes.
The markets with the largest year-over-year drops in their share of equity-rich homes were Florida (down 6.5 points from 52.5% in Q3 2024 to 46% in Q3 2025); Arizona (down from 50% to 44.5%; Colorado (down from 48% to 43%); the District of Columbia (down from 34.1% to 29.2%); and Georgia (down from 46.3% to 41.8%).
The report also found that 2.8% percent of mortgaged residential properties in the U.S. were considered “seriously underwater” in the third quarter of 2025, meaning the combined estimated balance of loans secured by a property were at least 25% percent more than the property’s estimated market value.
The states with the largest shares of seriously underwater homes are Louisiana (11.2%); Mississippi (6.6%); Kentucky (6%); Arkansas (5.7%); and Iowa (5.6%).
"Over the past year, the share of equity-rich homes has eased slightly while the portion of seriously underwater properties has edged up," said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. "After several years of strong equity growth that peaked in 2022, homeowner equity levels appear to be stabilizing. The modest fluctuations seen over the last few quarters may suggest a housing market that's finding balance after an extended period of appreciation."
