Wichita near the top in U.S. for homeowner equity

Wichita has an unusually high percentage of homes with high equity, according to real estate analytics firm RealtyTrac.

According to the company, 38 percent of Wichita homeowners own half or more of their homes.

That places Wichita third among all U.S. metros, behind expensive urban areas San Jose, Calif., and San Francisco.

RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist said there’s still a question about the Wichita home equity data, but he said that the numbers do tend to reflect Wichita’s type of real estate market: slow and steady gains after a relatively small drop in home values during the busting of the housing bubble.

In addition, he said, big investors in distressed housing have moved beyond the large cities to smaller cities, which has driven up demand for single-family homes. Rising home values boost the percentage of homeowner equity.

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 8:04 AM with the headline "Wichita near the top in U.S. for homeowner equity."