According to the CoreLogic Equity Report for the first quarter of 2015, 254,000 underwater properties regained home equity in the first three months of the year. Rising home values have enabled homeowners of those properties to get out of the negative equity trap and into positive territory on their mortgage loans. And this is a positive sign for the housing market as a whole, which still includes a little over 5 million underwater homes without any home equity. CoreLogic predicts in its Equity Report that another five percent increase in home prices could restore home equity to 1 million more of those properties. On this episode of Big Money Real Estate, I chat with Frank Nothaft, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at CoreLogic. He shares his insight on the CoreLogic Equity Report numbers, as well as the job market. So be sure to watch this episode in its entirety to get the full home equity picture. And check out Ilyce’s Intentional Investor Series to learn everything you need to know to become a successful investor in real estate. Looking for more of Ilyce’s real estate and personal finance tips? Read her blog, see her tweets and follow her on Facebook. Click here for a link to CoreLogic’s Equity Report for the first quarter of 2015.