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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.

We have about $1.5 million in savings, investments and home equity.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026

Increases in service charge costs can also act as a barrier to staircasing, as they reduce the income available to fund greater home equity, the report found.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Thanks to a strong stock market, Hill’s household net worth, including home equity, has shot up to more than $2 million.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 14, 2026

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 • Mar. 1, 2026

“Sure did. Fetched a pretty penny for it, too. God bless home equity and hipsters lookin’ to ‘revitalize’ or whatever the heck they’re calling it.”

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone

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