Beth Scharwath, REALTOR® | 30 Years Serving Hattiesburg
Published: May 31, 2026
Quick Answer: Nationally, about 43% of mortgaged homes are “equity-rich” — the owner owes less than half what the home is worth. Mississippi runs the other way, with one of the highest shares of underwater homes in the country, so you can’t assume. If you’ve owned your Hattiesburg home for years, you may have more equity than you realize. If you bought recently with little down, you may have less. The only way to know is your own numbers.
There’s a number sitting in your house right now, and most homeowners are guessing at it.
It’s your equity — the gap between what your home is worth and what you still owe — and it quietly decides what your options are. Whether you can downsize, tap a line of credit, help a kid with college, or move closer to family often comes down to that one figure. So let’s talk about what the data says, why Mississippi is its own animal, and how to find out where you actually stand.
What does “equity-rich” actually mean?
It’s a specific term, not just a vibe.
A home is considered equity-rich when the owner owes less than 50% of its current market value. If your home is worth $300,000 and you owe $120,000, you’re equity-rich — more than half the value sits on your side of the ledger. It’s not just “having some equity.” It’s having enough to give you real, usable options.
How much equity do homeowners have right now?
A lot — though it slipped a little this year.
According to ATTOM’s Q1 2026 report, 43.3% of mortgaged U.S. homes are equity-rich, down from 44.6% the quarter before and the lowest level since late 2021. Even so, nearly half the country’s mortgaged homeowners owe less than half of what their home is worth. After years of rising values, a lot of equity got built — and for many owners it’s just sitting there, unused.
Is Mississippi different? (Yes.)
This is where the national headline stops being your story.
Mississippi does not track the rosy national average. In that same ATTOM report, Mississippi had one of the highest shares of seriously underwater homes in the country — about 8%, third-highest behind Louisiana and Kentucky. “Seriously underwater” means owing far more than the home is worth.
So in the Pine Belt, equity is uneven. It depends heavily on when you bought and how much you put down. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t guess — a national statistic won’t tell you what’s true for your address.
Who has the most equity in Hattiesburg?
In my experience, it’s the long-tenured owners — and especially anyone who bought before COVID.
If you bought your Hattiesburg home before the 2020–2022 run-up, you’ve almost certainly built serious equity: Pine Belt values climbed, your balance shrank, and you’ve been riding that appreciation ever since. That’s exactly the position the homeowners I help right-size are in — they bought years ago, the home gained value, and now that equity can fund the next chapter. By contrast, buyers who purchased near the recent peak with a low down payment are the ones most likely to be tight — and that’s what pulls Mississippi’s underwater number up.
What can you actually do with your equity?
If you’ve got it, it’s leverage. Your realistic options:
- Sell and right-size. Use the proceeds to downsize into something smaller and easier — often with little or no new mortgage.
- Make a large down payment on your next home. A bigger down payment shrinks the loan and softens today’s higher rates.
- Buy your next home outright. With enough equity, some sellers skip the mortgage entirely.
- Tap a HELOC. Access equity for repairs or other needs without selling.
The common thread: equity only helps you if you know you have it and you make a plan for it.
How do you find out what your home is worth?
There are really three ways to put a number on a house, and they don’t all measure the same thing:
1. A market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent. This is your market value: what your home would realistically sell for right now. A good CMA looks forward. It weighs current buyer demand, what’s competing against you on the market today, and where prices are moving, to land on what a buyer will actually pay. This is the number I put together for you.
2. An appraisal. A licensed appraiser’s opinion of value, used mainly by lenders. It is not the same as market value. An appraisal looks backward, building its figure almost entirely from recently closed comparable sales. It matters when there’s a loan involved, but it tells you where the market has been, not where it’s headed.
3. An AVM, the estimate the banks and big websites use. These are automated, algorithm-driven numbers pulled from public data and averages. They’re instant and free, but they can be well off on any individual home, especially in a market as varied as ours.
All three have a place. The instant estimate is a fine starting point, the appraisal does its job at the closing table, but the CMA is the one that tells you what your home would truly sell for today.
Want to watch your number for free? I give my clients access to Fello, a free home-value tracker. Sign up once and it emails you an updated estimate of your home’s value over time, so you always have a current ballpark without lifting a finger. It’s free and open to anyone: sign up for Fello here. And when you’re ready for the real number, the one you’d actually list at, that’s the CMA, and that’s a quick conversation.
The Bottom Line
Nearly half the country is equity-rich, Mississippi is more of a mixed bag, and the only figure that matters is yours. If you’ve owned your home a while, you may be holding more leverage than you think. If you’re newer, it’s worth knowing where you stand before you assume anything. Either way — let’s find out your number.
Beth Scharwath | REALTOR® | RE/MAX Real Estate Partners | (601) 606-3001 | bethscharwath.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does it mean to be “equity-rich”?
A: You’re equity-rich when you owe less than 50% of your home’s current market value. It’s a common industry benchmark (used by data firms like ATTOM) for homeowners who have substantial, usable equity rather than just a little.
Q: Are most Mississippi homeowners equity-rich?
A: Not at the national rate. While about 43% of U.S. mortgaged homes are equity-rich, Mississippi has one of the highest shares of seriously underwater homes in the country (around 8%). Equity here varies a lot by when you bought and how much you put down.
Q: How do I find out how much equity I have?
A: Subtract your current mortgage balance from your home’s current market value. The tricky part is the value — online estimates are rough. A local agent can give you a realistic figure based on actual Hattiesburg sales.
Q: Can I use my home equity to buy a smaller home?
A: Yes — that’s one of the most common moves. Many longtime owners sell, use the equity as a large down payment or to buy outright, and right-size into a smaller, lower-maintenance home with little or no new mortgage.
Q: Is an appraisal the same as my home’s market value?
A: No. An appraisal is a lender-focused opinion of value built mostly from recently closed comparable sales, so it looks backward. Market value is what a buyer will actually pay today, which is what a real estate agent’s market analysis (CMA) estimates by weighing current demand and competition. The two numbers can differ. There’s also the free AVM (the automated estimate banks and big websites show) — handy as a starting point, but the least precise of the three.