More than one in four mortgaged properties was considered equity-rich in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the latest U.S. Home Equity and Underwater Report by the real estate data company ATTOM Data Solutions. The company said that rising home values and stable homeownership were helping to build wealth and lift more properties out of negative equity.

A total of 14.5 million homes in the United States, or 26.7 percent of mortgaged properties in the report, were equity-rich. In this situation, the combined value of the loans secured by the property were 50 percent or less of the home's value. This share was unchanged from the third quarter of the year but up from 25.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018.

"Homeownership continued boosting household balance sheets across the United States in the fourth quarter of 2019, as people paying off mortgages were much more likely to be in equity-rich territory than seriously underwater," said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. "That marked yet another sign of how much the country has benefited from an eight-year housing market boom. Some big gaps in equity levels persist between regions and market segments. But as home values keep climbing, financial resources keep building for homeowners, which provides them with leverage to make home repairs, help their children through college, or take on other major expenses."

California markets continued to enjoy the strongest equity situation, as 42.8 percent of residences in the state were equity-rich. Among 107 metropolitan statistical areas with a population above 500,000, the highest equity-rich shares were in San Jose (65.9 percent), San Francisco (57.5 percent), Los Angeles (47.8 percent), and Santa Rosa (45.9 percent). Eleven of the 25 most equity-rich counties in the nation were also located in California, along with all of the top 25 ZIP codes with the highest equity-rich shares.

Other states with a high percentage of equity-rich homes included Vermont (39.2 percent), Hawaii (38.8 percent), Washington (35.4 percent), and New York (35.1 percent). In the Northeast, Boston led other metro areas with an equity-rich share of 35.6 percent.

Just 6.4 percent of mortgaged homes, or 3.5 million across the United States, were considered seriously underwater. In this situation, the loans secured by a property are worth at least 25 percent more than the home's value. This share inched down from 6.4 percent in the third quarter of the year and was also down 2.4 percentage points from the previous year.

Louisiana had the highest share of seriously underwater properties, with 16.8 percent of the state's mortgaged homes falling into this category. This was followed by Mississippi (16 percent), West Virginia (13.9 percent), Iowa (13.5 percent), and Arkansas (12.9 percent).

Among metro areas, serious negative equity was most prominent in Youngstown, Ohio, with 16.2 percent of mortgaged homes considered seriously underwater. Two other metro areas in Ohio also had some of the highest seriously underwater shares in the U.S., with Cleveland's share standing at 13.7 percent and Akron's at 13.4 percent. Other metro areas with a high share of serious negative equity included Baton Rouge, La. (15.9 percent) and Scranton, Pa. (15 percent).

Locally, the share of equity-rich homes ranged from 11.9 percent in Norwich to 28.7 percent in Stonington. The share of seriously underwater homes was highest in Norwich (21.7 percent) and lowest in Niantic (7.2 percent).

ATTOM Data Solutions' Home Equity and Underwater reports calculate equity based on an automated valuation model and publicly recorded mortgage data. The reports rely on a nationwide database of more than 155 million properties.