Tappable equity is the amount of equity available to homeowners with mortgages that could be accessed through a home equity loan. According to Black Knight’s “Mortgage Monitor” (Black Knight is a leading provider of data across the homeownership life cycle), the March 31, 2018 total tappable equity available to U.S. homeowners increased by $380 billion, or 16%, during the quarter, reaching a record $5.8 trillion at the end of the period.
Black Knight attributes much of the gain to rising home prices and increases in rising interest rates that have discouraged increased borrowing.
We would like to think that homeowners learned some valuable lessons from the financial crisis during the “great recession” and are adopting a more conservative approach to building equity as a foundation of a long-term retirement strategy.
All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Walter J. Kirchberger, CFA