Home equity is at a record high. Here’s how to tap it [Video]

Thanks to the runup in housing prices, homeowners now have more than $32 trillion in home equity as of the first quarter of 2024, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve — an all-time high.

“It’s one of the very few things we can say about today’s housing market that is, more or less, positive,” said Jacob Channel, senior economic analyst at LendingTree.

While the average borrower sits on roughly $214,000 in equity that can be tapped, 60% of homeowners have at least $100,000, the Intercontinental Exchange’s Mortgage Monitor also found. Tappable equity is the amount most lenders will allow you to take out while still leaving 20% in the home as a cushion.

Rising home prices have “continued to build the fortunes of existing homeowners, pushing tappable equity to its …