A new report from ATTOM has good news for almost half of American homeowners with mortgages: their loan balances are getting smaller.

"Homeowner wealth took a notable turn for the better during the second quarter as equity levels piggybacked on some of the biggest home-price spikes we've seen in recent years," said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber.

Data showed that 49.2% of mortgaged residential properties in the U.S. were considered "equity rich" for 2Q 2024, up from 45.8% in the first quarter. This means that "the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than half of their estimated market values." The report defines equity-rich to mean a loan-to-value ratio of 50 percent or lower, meaning the property owner had at least half equity.