55+ Households Account for 2/3 of Home Equity

Households headed by someone age 55 or older account for two-thirds of the nation’s total home equity, according to data from the most recent (2016) Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). The survey is conducted every three years by the Federal Reserve and serves as one of the few federal sources of information on household wealth.

The SCF shows that 55+ households in 2016 held $10.6 trillion in residential equity (primary residences only), accounting for 67 percent of the $15.8 trillion total equity in primary residences for all U.S. households.

Previous NAHB research has shown that buyers of new homes in age-restricted communities often don’t take out a mortgage. When they do, they overwhelmingly use equity in a home as the source of a downpayment.

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