Where homeownership is creating the most wealth for Americans

Where homeownership is creating the most wealth for Americans

National housing prices are flat in 2026, and rising mortgage rates have put homeownership out of reach for many. But regional data shows equity-rich markets still exist—and wealth creation remains possible for those positioned to capitalize on it.

Offerpad, a real estate technology company, has compiled an investigation of the latest available data that proves the housing market can still serve as an engine of prosperity.

The Question of Equity

Home equity, meaning the portion of a property's current market value that is owned outright and calculated by subtracting the outstanding mortgage balance from the home's total value, is a useful measure of wealth creation. It’s also a figure that’s measured on a large scale and fluctuates significantly across cities and states.

Data from ATTOM’s Q1 2026 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report outlines the state of play, with 43.3% of homes categorized as equity-rich. A home is equity-rich when the mortgage balance is less than 50% of the property's current market value. The report also investigates properties in negative equity and defines 3.2% of homes as seriously underwater, meaning mortgages secured against them exceed the property's market value by 25% or more.

Data broken down at the metro, county, and state levels provides insights into where the most equity-rich properties are located. Vermont topped the list of states with equity-rich properties in Q1 2026, where this applied to 85.7% of homes. That’s far above second-place New Hampshire, with 58.1%. Montana, Rhode Island, and Hawai‘i round out the top five, with none falling below the 55% equity-rich mark.

While states like Vermont and New Hampshire lead in equity-rich properties, the Midwest dominates at the county level, with 23 of the top 30 equity-rich counties located there. Michigan ranked highest overall, with Benzie County boasting a 94.5% proportion of properties categorized as being equity-rich, and the rest of the top five also falling within Michigan’s borders.

The market is cooling in response to rising interest rates and flat home price growth. Regardless, the outlook from an equity perspective is positive, and wealth creation through homeownership remains possible in many places.

The House Price Outlook

As mentioned, house prices have largely remained stagnant so far in 2026 when taken at the national level. However, a look at granular pricing data from Cotality indicates that there’s certainly wealth creation in some areas and enclaves.

San Francisco is an outlier. So far this year, house prices are up by 8.9%, rising 7.6% in just 90 days, with analysts putting this down to the raft of tech investment in the region, and the wealth creation associated with it causing further spikes in property prices, as a new generation of AI innovators look to either settle on the West Coast or upgrade from their existing property. Tech investment in San Francisco has insulated property prices from broader national stagnation.

As with the ATTOM data, Cotality also found that the Midwest is seeing gains, with house prices rising 5.9% in Illinois, the largest uptick nationwide at the state level. Maine came in second at 5.6%, reflecting the East Coast’s enduring stability. Midwest metros were also well represented in the price growth stakes, with Lake County, Indiana, enjoying a 5.9% rise, and Milwaukee following behind with 4.8%.

Together, these markets show where homeowner wealth is actually accumulating in 2026, despite the national slowdown that's affecting most buyers.

Experts argue that the inherent affordability of property in the Midwest is in part responsible for the market buoyancy seen so far in 2026. Those who are already on the housing ladder in this region will feel the wealth-creation benefits most.

What’s to Come

Despite homeownership providing a route to financial security and outright prosperity in some cases, the mood in the market as a whole remains tentative, and analysts see current house price growth stagnation as a problem that will persist unless there’s a significant change in mortgage costs. In particular, concern over the expanding gulf separating those already sitting on equity-rich properties and those who are still aspiring to become homeowners continues to propagate, and no obvious solution exists, save for the generational transfer of wealth from baby boomers to Millennials and Gen Z.

This story was produced by Offerpad and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.