How the Dallas-Fort Worth Area Ranks in Homeowner Equity

Are you equity rich? Do you use finance apps to compare your home value against your mortgage statement balance every day?

If you’re a Dallas-Fort Worth homeowner, chances are you’re doing fine and better than others nationally. A recent report by Irvine, Calif.-based Attom Data Solutions estimates that, in the third quarter, 39.5 percent of D-FW homes are regarded as equity rich, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loans secured by those properties was 50 percent or less of their estimated market value.

Nationally, 28.3 percent of the 58.9 million mortgaged homes in the U.S. were categorized as equity-rich.

It’s a continuation of the strong economic news that has emerged despite the pandemic and its impact on high unemployment.

“Homeowner equity in the third quarter added another pebble to the pile of markers showing that the U.S. housing market continues to defy the broad downturn in the economy this year,” Attom Data’s Todd Teta said in the report.

The report provided counts of properties based on several equity categories at the state, metro, county, and ZIP code level in addition to the percentage of total properties with a mortgage that each equity category represents.

D-FW ranks seventh nationally and the only Texas market among the top-10 metro areas with the most equity-rich homes. Houston had the smallest share of equity-rich properties at about 31 percent, according to the study.

Two Dallas ZIP codes — 75212 (West Dallas), and 75224 (Oak Cliff) — had the largest share of equity-rich homes. The 76105 ZIP code in East Fort Worth also was included.

In North Texas, less than 3 percent of mortgaged homes were categorized as seriously underwater.

Seriously underwater indicates a loan-to-value ratio of 125 percent or above, meaning the property owner owed at least 25 percent more than the property’s estimated market value. Nationally, just 3.5 million, or one in 17, mortgaged homes were considered seriously underwater.

In case you’re wondering, the Park Cities and North Dallas were areas that had the largest percentage of homes underwater.