Published: Wednesday, August 6, 2008

If the local housing market has got you down, take some heart from another of Forbes' lists of superlatives and negatives.

Wilmington ranks No. 20 in the magazine's list of cities with the most home equity. Home equity as a percent of home value was 61 percent in Wilmington, or $117,470, Forbes said, down from 64 percent in 2007.

The drop in year-over-year figures was true most places, but Wilmington's and others stood in stark contrast to Sacramento, Calif., and Grand Rapids, Mich., where home equity is 28 percent, falling from 57 percent and 46 percent, respectively, two years ago, Forbes said.

Southern cities dominated the top 20 list. The city with the most equity was Beaumont, Texas, 75 percent at $76,458; followed by Corpus Christi; Gulfport, Miss.; Charleston, W.Va.; and El Paso.

But cities outside the South also were on the list: Honolulu; Utica and Binghamton, N.Y.; Allentown and Scranton, Pa.; and Atlantic City.

Forbes used data from Moody's Economy.com on the country's 200 largest metro areas. Housing values have dropped 7.7 percent nationwide since last year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

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