This chart breaks down how much equity U.S. homeowners have vs. how much debt they carry – and it tells a really interesting story about how things have changed over the last couple of decades.

Back in 2007, right before the crash, homeowners had around $8 trillion in equity, which sounds like a lot… but it only made up 43% of the total real estate value. Meanwhile, debt was much higher at $11 trillion (57%). That imbalance is one of the big reasons the market collapsed the way it did.

 

Then by 2011, things got even worse. Equity dropped to just $3 trillion, while debt stayed up around $10 trillion — meaning people only owned about 24% of their home’s value and owed the other 76%. A ton of homeowners were underwater.

 

Fast forward to Q4 2024, and it’s a totally different picture. Homeowners now have $17 trillion in equity, which makes up 54% of the total value of U.S. residential real estate. Debt is around $14 trillion, or 46%.

 

What does that mean? People are sitting on a lot more equity today than they were during the last crash — and that makes them way more insulated from a market downturn. Even if prices dipped a bit, most homeowners wouldn’t be in trouble.