The "Home ATM" Mostly Closed in Q1
Total Mortgage Equity Withdrawal (MEW) was Negative in Q1
The Federal Reserve released the Financial Accounts of the United States - Z.1 (sometimes called the Flow of Funds report) for Q1 this morning. We can use that data to calculated how much equity homeowners withdrew from their homes last quarter.
Mortgage Equity Withdrawal is an aggregate number and is a combination of homeowners extracting equity - hence the name "MEW" - and normal principal payments and debt cancellation (modifications, short sales, and foreclosures).
Quarterly Increase in Mortgage Debt
Here is the quarterly increase in mortgage debt from the Federal Reserve’s Financial Accounts of the United States - Z.1. In the mid ‘00s, there was a large increase in mortgage debt associated with the housing bubble.
In Q1 2026, mortgage debt increased $38 billion, down from $101 billion in Q4, and down from $53 billion in Q1 2025. Note the almost 7 years of declining mortgage debt as distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) wiped out a significant amount of debt.
However, some of this debt is being used to increase the housing stock (purchase new homes), so this isn’t all Mortgage Equity Withdrawal (MEW).
Mortgage Debt as a Percent of GDP
The second graph shows household real estate assets and mortgage debt as a percent of GDP.
Mortgage debt is up $3.17 trillion from the peak during the housing bubble, but, as a percent of GDP is at 43.4% - down from Q4 - and down from a peak of 73.1% of GDP during the housing bust. This means most homeowners have large equity cushions in their home.
The value of real estate, as a percent of GDP, increased in Q1 but is below the recent peak in Q2 2022. However this is well above the median of the last 30 years.
The third graph shows homeowner percent equity since 1952.
Household percent equity (as measured by the Fed) collapsed when house prices fell sharply during the housing bust. In Q1 2026, household percent equity (of household real estate) was at 71.6% up from 71.2% in Q4, 2025. Note: This includes households with no mortgage debt.
Calculated Risk Estimate of MEW
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