home equity

American

[hohm ek-wi-tee] / ˈhoʊm ˈɛk wɪ ti /

noun

Personal Finance.

the value of the portion of a person’s home that is free of debt, as mortgages, claims, liens, etc., and which the homeowner actually owns, calculated by subtracting the amount owed to lenders from the current market value of the home.

Home equity can increase or decrease significantly with fluctuations in the local real estate market.

Etymology

Origin of home equity

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They can take out home equity lines of credit or rent out their homes to fund their living expenses without selling.

From The Wall Street Journal

For instance, Americans 70 to 74, who fall in the middle of the current boomer age range, have a median net worth of about $476,000, including home equity, MarketWatch previously reported — meaning half of the people in that group have a net worth that is lower.

From MarketWatch

Home equity represents a median 45% of American homeowners’ overall net worth, a Pew Research Center analysis found.

From The Wall Street Journal

For him, that made it worthwhile to wager effectively everything outside of his retirement accounts and home equity.

From The Wall Street Journal

He also mentioned the limitation that in its current form, the formula doesn’t account for people’s home equity or mortgage debt, though neither do many other investing guidelines.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023