![](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Pending_Home_Sales_64990.jpg)
Home values in the D.C. ended last year up nearly 20% compared to the same period the year before.
The average home value in the D.C. metro area in the final quarter of 2020 was up $40,700 from a year earlier, compared to an average year-over-year gain of $16,300 in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to real estate firm CoreLogic.
That is a 19.4% increase in home equity from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020 for the D.C. region.
The average gain nationally was 16.2%, or $26,300. That is collective equity gain of more than $1.5 trillion.
Annual average equity gains nationwide were the highest in seven years, according to CoreLogic data.
Homeowners with mortgages in the D.C. metro are almost all in good shape with their mortgage balances. Just 2.9% are in negative equity, owing the bank at least 25% more than for what they could sell their home.
Nationwide, 2.6% of all mortgaged properties, or 1.9 million homes, remained in negative equity.
Sixty-two percent of homeowners nationwide have mortgages.
Below is a map showing the average gain in home values by state from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020, courtesy of CoreLogic.
![](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/031221_home_values.jpg)