How Much Equity Do I Have In My Home

If you’re a homeowner, you might be torn on whether or not to sell your house right now. Maybe that’s because you don’t want to take on a higher mortgage rate on your next home. If that’s your biggest hurdle, understanding your equity may be exactly what you need to help you feel more comfortable making your move.

How To Calculate Equity In A Home

Equity is the current value of your home minus what you owe on the loan. And recently, that equity has been growing faster than expected.

Over the last few years, home prices have risen dramatically, giving your equity a big boost very quickly. While the market has started to normalize, there’s still an imbalance between the number of homes available for sale and the number of buyers looking to purchase. And it’s because homes are in such high demand that prices are back on the rise today. Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, a property data provider, explains:

“Equity levels were high even during the recent downturn, and now they are going back up and better than ever.”

How Equity Benefits You in Today’s Market

With today’s affordability challenges, that equity can be a game changer when you move. Here’s why. Based on data from ATTOM and the Census, nearly two-thirds (68.7%) of homeowners have either paid off their mortgages or have at least 50% equity (see chart below):

That means roughly 70% have a tremendous amount of equity right now.

Once you sell your house, you can use your equity to help with your next purchase. It could be some (if not all) of what you’ll need for your next down payment. It may even be enough to allow you to put a considerably larger down payment on your next home, so you don’t have to finance quite as much. And, if you’ve been in your current house for years, you may have even built up enough equity to pay in all cash. If that’s true for you, you could avoid borrowing altogether, so you wouldn’t have to worry about today’s mortgage rates.

How To Find Out How Much Equity You Have

The best way to learn how much you have is to contact Vance Team Realtors, Your trusted Highland County Realtors, for a Professional Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) to show how much your home might be worth if you listed it today.

Bottom Line

If you plan to move, the equity you’ve gained can make a significant impact. Let's connect to find out how much equity you have in your current home and how you can use it to fuel your next purchase.

Best Real Estate Agents Hillsboro Ohio

We are thankful for the wonderful reviews all of our clients have shared. Check out what our clients are saying about us here Best Real Estate Agents Hillsboro Ohio

Should I Sell My House Now?

Today's video might help move you toward selling if you are on the fence about selling. 

About 11,000 Houses Will Sell Today Nationwide

Homes For Sale In Hillsboro Ohio

Some Hillsboro homeowners have been waiting months to put their houses on the market because they don’t think people are buying homes right now. If that’s you, know that even though the housing market has slowed compared to the frenzy of a couple of years ago, it isn’t at a standstill. Contrary to your belief, buyers are still active, and plenty of homes are selling now.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), just over 4 million homes will sell this year based on the pace of sales right now. With some simple math, let’s break down what that means for you:

• 4.16 million homes divided by 365 days in a year = 11,397 houses sell each day

• 11,397 divided by 24 hours in a day = 475 houses sell per hour

• 475 divided by 60 minutes in an hour = about 8 houses sell each minute

So, on average, about 11,000 homes sell each day in this country.

As Hillsboro Ohio Real Estate experts, we can give you more information about how many houses are being sold in our area, and the amazing advantages sellers are experiencing right now, due to low housing inventory. Together we will use this knowledge to shape how we market your house based on local trends. 

Bottom Line

If you’ve been waiting to sell because you don’t think there are buyers, know today’s market is active. Every day you wait, around 11,000 other homeowners are selling. In the time it took you to read this, eight homes sold. When you’re ready to sell, too, let’s connect. Are you curious to know how much your home is worth? Try our Free Hillsboro-Home Value Calculator.

There's Only Half the Inventory of a Normal Housing Market Today

Hillsboro Homes For Sale 2023

Wondering if it still makes sense to sell your house right now? The short answer is, yes. Especially if you consider how few homes there are for sale today.

You may have heard inventory is low right now, but you may not fully realize just how low or why that’s a perk when you go to sell your house. This graph from Calculated Risk can help put that into perspective: 

As the graph shows, while housing inventory did grow slightly week-over-week (shown in the blue bar), overall supply is still low (shown in the red bars). Compared to the same week last year, supply is down roughly 10% – and it was already considered low at that time. But, if you look further back, you’ll see inventory is down even more significantly.

To gauge just how far off from normal today’s inventory is, let’s compare right now to 2019 (the last normal year in the market). When you compare the same week this year with the matching week in 2019, supply is about 50% lower. That means there are half the homes for sale now than there’d usually be.

The key takeaway? We’re still nowhere near what’s considered a balanced market. There’s plenty of demand for your house because there just aren’t enough homes to go around. As Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), explains:

“There are simply not enough homes for sale. The market can easily absorb a doubling of inventory.”

So, if you want to list your house, know that there’s only about half the inventory there’d usually be in a more normal year. That means your house will be in the spotlight if you sell now and you may see multiple offers and a fast home sale. 

Bottom Line

With the number of homes for sale roughly half of what there’d usually be in a more normal year, you can rest assured there’s demand for your house. If you want to sell, let’s connect now so your house can shine above the rest while inventory is so low.

Highland County Ohio Homes For Sale

Since February, we have shared updates about a project house in Hillsboro, Ohio, on our Facebook page. Today we are sharing the most recent updates to the project house in a YouTube video. Check out the photos below from February, and then watch the video below.

Houses For Sale In Hillsboro Ohio

And now check out the most recent updates. This old house is starting to come back to life.

Homebuyers Are Still More Active Than Usual

Even though the housing market is no longer experiencing the frenzy that was so characteristic of the last couple of years, it doesn’t mean today’s market is at a standstill. In actuality, buyer traffic is still strong today.

The ShowingTime Showing Index is a measure of how much buyers are touring homes. The graph below uses that index to illustrate buyer activity trends over time to help put today into the proper perspective.

It shows there’s seasonality in real estate. If you look at the last normal years in the market (shown in gray), there was a consistent pattern as buyer activity peaked in the first half of each year (during the peak homebuying season in the spring) and slowed as each year came to a close.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, that trend was disrupted as the market responded to the resulting uncertainty (shown in blue in the middle). From there, we entered the ‘unicorn’ years of housing (shown in pink). This is when mortgage rates were record-low, and buyer demand was sky-high. Similar seasonal trends still existed even during that time, just at much higher levels.

Now, let’s look at 2023. Traffic is down from the previous month, and it’s also lower than the peaks we saw in the ‘unicorn’ years. But what’s happening isn’t a steep drop off in demand – it’s a slow return toward more normal seasonality. As the ShowingTime report explains:

“Showing traffic declined about 10% in May . . . This follows a typical seasonal pattern – disrupted by the pandemic but now beginning to return . . .”

And, to highlight this isn’t a drastic decline, let’s zoom in. Here’s a graph using just the May data for the last five years. It shows just how strong buyer demand still is.

What Does That Mean for You?

Buyers are still out there touring homes. They’re more active than they were in May 2022 (when sticker shock over higher mortgage rates started to set in) and certainly more than they were in the last normal years. So, remember, buyer activity is still strong. And it could actually be even stronger if it wasn’t constrained by the limited supply of homes for sale. According to U.S. News:

“Housing markets have cooled slightly, but demand hasn’t disappeared, and in many places remains strong largely due to the shortage of homes on the market.”

Bottom Line

Don’t lose sight of just how active the market still is today. If your house isn’t on the market, it’s not getting in front of all those buyers who are looking to make a purchase right now. Let’s connect to start the process.

When will the housing market crash again?

When will the housing market crash again? We are getting that question from clients. The truth is values declined some in late 2022 and early 2023 but have since recovered and are now rising again.

Don’t Fall for the Next Shocking Headlines About Home Prices

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, one of the biggest questions you have right now is probably: what’s happening with home prices? And it’s no surprise you don’t have the clarity you need on that topic. Part of the issue is how headlines are talking about prices.

They’re basing their negative news by comparing current stats to the last few years. But you can’t compare this year to the ‘unicorn’ years (when home prices reached unsustainable record highs). And as prices begin to normalize now, they’re talking about it like it’s bad and making people fear what’s next. But the worst home price declines are already behind us. We’re starting to see the return to more normal home price appreciation.

To help make home price trends easier to understand, let’s focus on what’s typical for the market and omit the last few years since they were anomalies. 

Let’s start by talking about seasonality in real estate. In the housing market, predictable ebbs and flows happen each year. Spring is the peak homebuying season when the market is most active. That activity is typically still strong in the summer but begins to wane as the cooler months approach. Home prices follow along with seasonality because prices appreciate most when something is in high demand.

That’s why, before the abnormal years we just experienced, there was a reliable long-term home price trend. The graph below uses data from Case-Shiller to show typical monthly home price movement from 1973 through 2021 (not adjusted so that you can see the seasonality):

As the data from the last 48 years shows, home prices grow at the beginning of the year but not as much as they do entering the spring and summer markets. That’s because the market is less active in January and February since fewer people move in the cooler months. As the market transitions into the peak homebuying season in the spring, activity ramps up, and home prices go up a lot more in response. Then, as fall and winter approach, activity eases again. Price growth slows but still typically appreciates.

Why This Is So Important to Understand

In the coming months, as the housing market moves further into a more predictable seasonal rhythm, you’re going to see even more headlines that either get what’s happening with home prices wrong or, at the very least, are misleading. Those headlines might use a number of price terms, like:

• Appreciation: when prices increase.
• Deceleration of appreciation: when prices continue to appreciate but at a slower or more moderate pace.
• Depreciation: when prices decrease.

They’re going to mistake the slowing home price growth (deceleration of appreciation) that’s typical of market seasonality in the fall and winter and think prices are falling (depreciation). Don’t let those headlines confuse you or spark fear. Instead, remember it’s normal to see a deceleration of appreciation, slowing home price growth, as the months go by.

Bottom Line

If you have questions about what’s happening with home prices in our local area, let’s connect.

Owning Your Home Helps You Build Wealth

You may have heard some people say it’s better to rent than buy a home right now. But, even today, many good reasons exist to become a homeowner. One of them is that owning a home is typically viewed as a good long-term investment that helps your net worth grow over time.

Homeownership Builds Wealth Regardless of Income Level

You may be surprised to learn homeowners across various income levels have a much higher net worth than renters who make the same amount. Data from First American helps illustrate this point (see graph below):

What makes wealth so much higher for homeowners? A recent article from Realtor.com says:

“Homeownership has long been tied to building wealth—and for good reason. Instead of throwing rent money out the window each month, owning a home allows you to build home equity. And over time, equity can turn your mortgage debt into a sizeable asset.”

Basically, the wealth you accumulate when you own a home has much to do with equity. As a homeowner, equity is built up as you pay your loan, and home prices appreciate over time. Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American, explains how this same benefit isn’t true for renters in a recent podcast:

“Renters as non-homeowners gain no wealth benefit as home prices rise. That wealth actually accrues to the landlord.”

Before you decide to sign another rental agreement, now is a good time to think about whether it would be better for you to buy a home instead. The best way to figure out what makes sense for you is to have a conversation with a real estate expert you trust. That professional can talk you through the benefits that come with owning to determine if that’s the right next step for you. 

Bottom Line

If you're not sure whether to keep renting or to buy a home, know that owning a home, no matter how much money you make, can help build your wealth. Let's connect now to get started on the path to homeownership.