home equity

American  

[hohm ek-wi-tee] / ˈhoʊm ˈɛk wɪ ti /

noun

Personal Finance.

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of home equity

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

home equity

Yet even when including any home equity, only 26% of households in their 30s have reached this threshold, in many cases because they lack liquid savings.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

Beyond your retirement savings, other sources of funds to pay for an extended healthcare crisis can include a reverse mortgage that converts home equity into cash and selling certain investments.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026

In many metros, property owners with hefty piles of home equity and no reason to relocate are still sitting it out, giving buyers few options.

From Barron's ● May 31, 2026

It might well be a smarter move to take out a second mortgage and tap the home equity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

Greg Lippmann had traded bonds backed by various consumer loans—auto loans, credit card loans, home equity loans—since 1991, when he had graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and taken a job at Credit Suisse.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis