If the Average Home Value Doubled Overnight, Which States Would Benefit Most?

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Median home prices have fallen since peaking at the end of 2022, but at $410,800 nationwide as of the second quarter of 2025, they’re still about 30% higher than they were during the early months of the pandemic, per Federal Reserve data.

While that surge made homeownership unaffordable for many first-time buyers, Americans who already owned homes benefited with an 80% increase in equity between 2020 and 2024, according to Realtor.com.

Of course, those are national statistics and they don’t necessarily reflect the realities of local real estate markets. A 100% increase in home values, for example, would impact each state differently. States with the most total equity, whether because of high home values, the number of homeowners or some combination of the two, would see the largest overall gains in equity wealth. But they wouldn’t necessarily see the largest gains per household.

GOBankingRates used housing units data from the Census, average outstanding mortgage balances from Experian and data from the Zillow Home Value Index to calculate which states would benefit most in both largest total equity gains and largest equity gains per household.

States With the Largest Equity Gains

These states have the most total equity, so they’d gain the highest dollar amount of additional equity if home prices were to double.

California

Total equity gain: $4,633,374,147,183

New York

Total equity gain: $1,823,873,208,846

Florida

Total equity gain: $1,246,252,084,051

New Jersey

Total equity gain: $1,030,909,818,156

Massachusetts

Total equity gain: $987,965,361,867

Washington

Total equity gain: $794,749,423,243

Texas

Total equity gain: $647,136,185,001

Pennsylvania

Total equity gain: $582,124,632,315

North Carolina

Total equity gain: $574,400,740,399

Colorado

Total equity gain: $505,822,732,083

States Where Homeowners Would Benefit Most

These states would have the largest equity gains per household.

Hawaii

Equity gain per household: $410,976

Massachusetts

Equity gain per household: $323,070

California

Equity gain per household: $311,427

New Jersey

Equity gain per household: $269,963

New Hampshire

Equity gain per household: $268,984

Rhode Island

Equity gain per household: $253,918

Washington

Equity gain per household: $233,687

Maine

Equity gain per household: $223,346

Utah

Equity gain per household: $217,999

New York

Equity gain per household: $210,182

Why ‘Benefit’ Is a Relative Term

A 100% increase in home values would create trillions of dollars of equity, but it would also have serious negative effects. For one, it would worsen an already critical shortage of affordable homes available for purchase, putting homeownership further out of reach for first-time buyers. That, in turn, could drive demand for rentals, and increase rent prices as a result.

Existing homeowners would lose some of their newfound equity to increased property tax, which is based on property values. In addition, the value increase could be temporary. With so many buyers priced out of the market, demand for homes could fall, and with it, home values. That, in turn, could leave owners who purchased more recently owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth — a major risk factor for foreclosure.

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