Higher home values have lifted thousands of homeowners out of negative equity in the second quarter.
CoreLogic reported Thursday that 548,000 homeowners regained equity in the second quarter of 2016. Altogether, home equity grew $646 billion, for an increase of 9.9% over the second quarter of 2015.
The number of homes in negative equity dropped 13.2% from the first quarter and 19% year-over-year to 3.6 million. That equates to 7.1% of all homes with a mortgage.
"We see home prices rising another 5% in the coming year based on the latest projected national CoreLogic Home Price Index," CoreLogic Chief Executive and President Anand Nallathambi said in a news release. "Assuming this growth is uniform across the U.S., that should release an additional 700,000 homeowners from the scourge of negative equity."
