American homeowners have $17.6T in home equity, more are borrowing against it

The average American homeowner with a mortgage is sitting in a significant pile of cash - $212,000 – in home equity, but more are taking advantage of this through home equity lines of credit.

The newly released ICE June 2025 Mortgage Monitor Report reveals that 48 million homeowners have a combined record $17.6 trillion in home equity with $11.5 trillion of this considered ‘tappable’ while leaving a 20% cushion.

And the analysis of data shows that second lien equity withdrawals rose 22% in the first quarter of 2025 to almost $25 billion, the highest in 17 years, as the cost of borrowing eases 2.5 percentage points from recent quarters to less than 7.5% in March.

“Equity levels remain historically high, and now we’re seeing the cost of borrowing against that equity drop meaningfully,” said Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE. “The monthly payment needed to withdraw $50,000 via a home equity line of credit (HELOC) has fallen by more than $100 since early 2024. If the Fed moves forward with anticipated rate cuts, borrowing against home equity could become even more attractive in the second half of the year.”

Most homeowners are in a strong position with mortgage homes on average only 45% leveraged.

Meanwhile, home prices continue to rise with the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine US census divisions, showing a 3.4% annual return for March.

While this is down from the previous month (4%) with the 20-city composite also easing from 4.5% in February to 4.1% in March, there are pockets of sharper rises led by New York at 8%, Chicago at 6.5% and Cleveland at 5.9%.

"Home price growth continued to decelerate on an annual basis in March, even as the market experienced its strongest monthly gains so far in 2025," said Nicholas Godec, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, Head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "This divergence between slowing year-over-year appreciation and renewed spring momentum highlighted how the housing market shifted from mere resilience to a broader seasonal recovery. Limited supply and steady demand drove prices higher across most metropolitan areas, despite affordability challenges remaining firmly in place.”

Godec also highlighted how, despite softer sales, price gains are helping to boost home equity.

"Even as year-over-year gains slowed, US home prices remained at record highs, ensuring long-term homeowners retained substantial equity," he said.  "This spring's price resurgence illustrated that seasonal demand and tight supply could reignite price growth, but it also underscored the housing market's continued sensitivity to mortgage rates and affordability constraints."