Rising home prices lifted another 91,000 homes into positive equity in the first quarter of 2017, according to the property analytics company CoreLogic.

The company determined that 93.9 percent of mortgaged properties in the United States were worth more than their outstanding mortgage balances. This share was up from 93.7 percent in the previous two quarters, as well as 91.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016, 89.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015, and 87.1 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

CoreLogic estimates that 48.2 million mortgaged residential properties in the nation have equity. Another 3.1 million have negative equity, or mortgage balances higher than the property value, but the company says 600,000 more properties would regain equity if home prices increase another 5 percent.

The cumulative outstanding mortgage balance in the U.S. was put at $9.38 trillion, up from $9.11 trillion in the first quarter of 2016 and $8.84 trillion in the first quarter of 2015. At the same time, net homeowner equity rose from $6.15 trillion in the first quarter of 2015 and $6.83 trillion in the first quarter of 2016 to $7.59 trillion.

"Homeowner equity increased by $766 billion over the last year, the largest increase since Q2 2014," said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "The rising cushion of home equity is one of the main drivers of improved mortgage performance. Since home equity is the largest source of homeowner wealth, the increase in home equity also supports consumer balance sheets, spending, and the broader economy."

The average loan-to-value ratio on mortgaged homes during the first quarter of 2017 was 55.3 percent. This figure indicates that the typical homeowner had 44.7 percent equity in their property.

About 7.7 million homes, or 15.1 percent of U.S. residences, were considered under-equitied. This means that the homeowner has built up less than 20 percent equity in their property.

A total of 1.6 percent of homes, or about 800,000 properties, had near-negative equity. These homes have less than 5 percent equity and are considered to be the most vulnerable to negative equity if market values drop.

Among all mortgaged properties, 6.1 percent were valued lower than their outstanding mortgage. The aggregate value of this negative equity continued to shrink, falling from $304.5 billion in the first quarter of 2016 to $283 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

The share of negative equity homes included 2.5 percent with a loan-to-value ratio of 105 percent to less than 125 percent. Another 2.4 percent had a loan-to-value ratio of 125 percent or greater, indicating that the mortgage was at least 25 percent higher than the property's value. The remaining 1.2 percent were near positive equity, with a loan-to-value ratio of 100 percent to less than 105 percent.

About 1.8 million homeowners with negative equity held first liens without home equity loans. These borrowers had an average balance of $266,000 and were typically underwater by $85,000. An additional 1.3 million homeowners had both first and second liens on their property, and were underwater by an average of $99,000 on a $334,000 mortgage.

More expensive homes continued to enjoy a higher equity share than lower priced homes. Ninety-six percent of homes valued above $200,000 had equity, compared to 90 percent of those valued at less than $200,000.

Skyrocketing values continued to benefit homeowners in the West. The average year-over-year equity gain was $38,000 in Washington, $33,000 in Hawaii, and $26,000 in California.

Texas had the highest share of mortgaged homes with equity, with 98.4 percent of these properties worth more than their mortgage balance. Other states with high equity shares included Utah (98.2 percent), Washington (98.2 percent), Hawaii (98.1 percent), and Colorado (98 percent).

Connecticut was one of the five states with the highest share of negative equity, with 9.9 percent of mortgaged properties worth less than their loan balance. Other states where a large share of homes had negative equity included Nevada (12.4 percent), Florida (11.1 percent), Illinois, (10.5 percent), and New Jersey (10.2 percent).

The average loan-to-value ratio in Connecticut was 59.3 percent. A total of 19.2 percent of the approximately 852,000 mortgaged properties in the state were considered under-equitied, with 2.8 percent considered near negative equity. Another 2.1 percent were near positive equity.

In Rhode Island, the average loan-to-value ratio was 55.3 percent and 14.4 percent of the state's approximately 242,000 mortgaged residences were considered under-equitied. The state's negative equity share was 9.4 percent, with 2 percent of properties considered near negative equity and 1.6 percent considered near positive equity.

CoreLogic says its quarterly equity reports use public record data to determine the equity of 49 million mortgaged properties. It says these homes account for about 85 percent of all mortgages in the U.S.

The real estate data company RealtyTrac has consistently calculated a higher negative equity share than CoreLogic. In its report for the first quarter of 2017, CoreLogic determined that 9.7 percent of mortgaged properties in the U.S. were seriously underwater, with a loan-to-value ratio of 125 percent or greater. It also estimated that 24.3 percent of mortgaged properties were equity rich, with a loan-to-value ratio of 50 percent or lower.