NH Homeowners Have More Equity Than Almost Anyone in America

There's a number from the latest ATTOM Q1 2026 Home Equity Report that stopped me in my tracks. New Hampshire is the second most equity-rich state in the entire country. Not the top ten. The top two. We sit at 58.1%, second only to Vermont.

And here's what that means in plain English. Nearly 6 out of every 10 New Hampshire homeowners with a mortgage own at least half of their home outright. The other half is debt. That's it.

Now hold that fact next to this one — Point's 2026 Housing Gridlock Report found that 48.1% of homeowners nationally didn't even consider moving in the past year. Not couldn't. Didn't consider it. Most of them never ran the numbers.

That gap right there — between what NH homeowners actually have, and what they think they have — is the story for me this week. Because the reality is, a lot of you reading this are sitting on more options than you realize.

Why It Feels Like You're Stuck

Let's be honest about this part first. The feeling is real.

If you bought before 2022, you're likely sitting on a mortgage rate in the 2s or low 3s. The thought of giving that up for something in the 6s feels like setting money on fire. So you don't move. You stay. And every month that goes by, the gap between your current life and where you actually want to be gets a little wider.

The trap is that we keep running the wrong comparison. We compare rate to rate. 3% versus 6.5%. And the spread looks so painful that the conversation ends right there.

But that's not actually the comparison that matters. The real comparison is total payment to total payment — once you factor in your equity. And when you run that math honestly, most NH homeowners find the picture is very different than they assumed.

The Four Real Options

There isn't one right answer here. There's never one right answer in real estate. But there are real, specific paths NH homeowners can take with their equity right now. Let me walk through four.

Option 1 — Sell and Move Up With a Bigger Down Payment

This is the option most people skip because they get hung up on the rate. Here's the math they're not running.

Say you're sitting on $300,000 in equity and a $250,000 remaining balance at 3%. You sell, you walk away with $300,000 (minus costs), and you put it down on the next house. Suddenly your new loan is smaller — sometimes a lot smaller. The 6.5% rate is on a much smaller principal. And the actual monthly payment may not be as scary as the headline rate suggests.

This won't work for everyone. But it works for far more people than it gets credit for. The only way to know is to run the numbers on your specific situation.

Option 2 — Bridge With a HELOC, Buy First, Sell Second

One of the most common things I hear is, "We can't move because we have to sell first, but we can't sell first because then we have nowhere to go."

Right. That's a real problem. And a HELOC against your current equity can solve it. You borrow against the equity you already have, use it as a down payment on the next house, move when you're ready, and then sell the first house from a position of strength — not panic.

HELOCs have closing costs and interest, so they're not free. But the question isn't "is this perfect?" The question is "is this better than feeling stuck for another two years?"

Option 3 — Sell and Buy Outright (Or Close To It)

This is the path I see most often with empty nesters or anyone whose current house is way more than they need.

If you've got $400,000 to $600,000 in equity and you're willing to right-size, there's a strong chance you can buy your next home outright — or with a small enough mortgage that today's rates simply don't matter. No rate anxiety. No monthly payment to wrestle with. Just lower carrying costs and a more intentional next chapter.

Not everyone wants that. But for the people it fits, it's an enormous unlock.

Option 4 — Build an ADU and Stay (The New One)

This is the option that didn't really exist a year ago. As of July 2025, New Hampshire's revised ADU law (RSA 674:72) requires every municipality in the state to allow at least one accessory dwelling unit — attached or detached — by right on lots zoned for single-family homes. No special exception. No conditional use permit. By right.

Which means a lot of NH homeowners who feel stuck in their current house actually have a path most of them haven't considered. You stay in the house you love. You use your equity to build (or convert) an ADU. And now you've got options: rental income, multi-generational living, a place for an aging parent, a space for an adult kid finding their footing, or a future downsizing move where you sell the main house and live in the ADU yourself.

ADUs aren't cheap. Most run between 400 and 1,000 square feet and the costs vary based on attached vs. detached. But for a homeowner with significant equity who genuinely doesn't want to leave, this is a real path forward that the old law made nearly impossible in a lot of NH towns. It's worth looking at — even just to know whether your lot and your numbers could support it.

So What Do You Actually Do?

Here's what I'd tell my own sister if she called me tomorrow.

Start by getting an actual current value on your home. Not Zillow. Not what your neighbor sold for two years ago. A real estate professional walking your house and pulling current comps. That number is the foundation of every option above. If you don't know it, you can't make a real decision.

Then run the numbers — actual numbers — on at least two of the four options. Not all four. Just the two that feel closest to your actual life right now.

And then trust your future self. You don't have to know exactly what comes next in three years. You just have to make the best right decision with the information you have today. Then pivot when you get new information.

Because the reality is, if you're a NH homeowner with a few years of equity built up, you almost certainly have more options than you think. The stuck feeling is real. But being stuck — actually stuck — is much rarer than it feels.

And the only way to know which one you are is to run the math.

If you want help running it on your specific house, that's literally what I do. No pitch. No pressure. Just the numbers, laid out, so you can make your own decision. Just reach out — happy to walk through it.