60629, Chicago, IL

Home equity is the difference between the market value of a home and the amount of money that a homeowner owes on their mortgage. In Chicago, home equity averaged $191,000 in 2016. This means that homeowners in 60629 had more than twice as much equity in their homes as homeowners nationwide had on average at that time.

The reason for this discrepancy has to do with how mortgages are structured. In most cases, a homeowner’s mortgage is not actually all of the money they owe on their home. The rest is called “home equity” or “homeowner’s equity” and it represents the difference between what a homeowner owes on their mortgage and what their home is worth.

This difference can be used to pay off other debts, buy another house, or invest in something else. Over time, as homes continue to appreciate in value, more and more homeowners have more and more equity in their homes.

In 60629, there were an estimated 1,859 single-family homes and condos for sale at the end of 2016 – which means that there was plenty of opportunity for buyers to find properties with high levels of home equity. Additionally, because prices continue to rise faster than inflation throughout most of Illinois (although not always), it's likely that even those who don't have high levels of home equity will eventually be able to purchase a property worth more than what they currently owe on their mortgage.