As home prices continue to soar the amount of tappable equity soars well, according to the latest Black Knight mortgage monitor report…(Black Knight)

  • Tappable equity jumped by $2.6 trillion to reach am aggregate total of $9.9 trillion in 2021.
  • The 35% growth rate is more than double the $1.1 trillion increase reported in 2020.

NOTE: The average homeowner now has $185,000 available equity in their home, a $48,000 increase year-over-year.

After cooling in late summer and early fall the Black Knight Home Price Index showed prices re-accelerating to the end of 2021…

  • The average home increased in value by 0.84% in December, the largest growth of any December on record.
  • Austin, TX had the highest annual growth rate at 37.1% followed by Phoenix, AZ (+32.1%) and Raleigh, NC (+30.5%).

Rising rates along with home prices are, unfortunately, increasing the cost of homeownership for much of the country…

  • P&I on average reached an all-time of $1,454, a 32% jump from one year ago.
  • It now takes 25.8% of the median household to purchase a home, up from 22.4% in Q3 2021.

NOTE: Rising rates have also significantly lowered the amount of eligible refinance candidates from 19 million one year ago to less than 6 million today.

Inventory, like prices, is trending in the opposite direction from projections just a few months ago…

  • The shortage of active listings fell to -60% after improving to -55% in September.
  • The U.S. housing market currently faces a 500-750k active listing deficit compared to ’17-’19 December inventory levels.

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