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HOMEOWNER EQUITY TURNS BACK UPWARD ACROSS U.S. IN SECOND QUARTER OF 2024 AS HOME VALUES SURGE

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Half of Mortgaged Homeowners Once Again Equity-Rich; Portion of Owners Seriously Underwater Drops to Five-Year Low

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its second quarter 2024 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that 49.2 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the second quarter, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than half of their estimated market values.

The portion of mortgaged homeowners in equity-rich territory during the second quarter of 2024 rose from 45.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024, matching a high point reached in the Spring of last year. The increase reversed a series of three straight quarterly declines and marked one of the best gains in the past five years.

While equity-rich levels improved, the report also reveals that the portion of home mortgages that were seriously underwater in the U.S. declined to 2.4 percent during the second quarter, or just one in 42. That was down from 2.7 percent in the prior quarter to the lowest level since at least 2019. Seriously underwater mortgages are those with combined estimated balances of loans secured by properties that are at least 25 percent more than those properties’ estimated market values.

The second-quarter equity gains came as home prices spiked during the 2024 Spring buying season, with the median national price shooting up 9 percent quarterly to a new record of $365,000. Rising prices helped raise equity levels throughout most of the country by widening the gap between the estimated value of homes and the amounts homeowners owed on their loans.

“Homeowner wealth took a notable turn for the better during the second quarter as equity levels piggybacked on some of the biggest home-price spikes we’ve seen in recent years,” said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. “After a period where equity seemed stagnant or even declining, this brought another boost of good news for homeowners from the enduring housing market boom. Supplies of homes for sale remain limited these days and buyer demand is typically elevated during the Summertime. So, it should be no surprise if home values go even higher and take equity along for the ride.”

The latest market pattern reflects a period when the housing market rebounded from several sluggish quarters of price gains and losses. Values surged amid a tight supply of homes combined with the usual Springtime increase in buyer demand. Additional help came from relatively stable home-mortgage rates that hovered back and forth around 7 percent for a 30-year fixed loan as well as a national unemployment rate that fell below 4 percent and investment markets that hit new highs.

Equity-rich shares of mortgages climb throughout U.S.
The portion of mortgages that were equity-rich increased in 48 of the 50 U.S. states from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024, commonly by more than two percentage points. Measured annually, equity-rich levels were up in 31 states as the nationwide figure of 49.2 percent equity-rich in the second quarter of this year matched the portion from the second quarter of 2023. 

The biggest quarterly increases came in lower-priced markets, mainly across the South and Midwest regions, led by Kentucky (where the portion of mortgaged homes considered equity-rich increased from 28.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 37.4 percent in the second quarter of 2024), Illinois (up from 28.3 percent to 36.1 percent), Missouri (up from 38.3 percent to 45.5 percent), Oklahoma (up from 28.1 percent to 34.5 percent) and Alabama (up from 35.7 percent to 41.9 percent).

At the other end of the scale, equity-rich levels remained the same in two states (staying at 54 percent in Utah and 51.5 percent in South Dakota). The smallest increases were in North Dakota (up from 31.5 percent to 32 percent), California (up from 58.6 percent to 59.4 percent) and Louisiana (up from 20.1 percent to 21 percent).

Seriously underwater mortgage levels also improve in most states
The portion of mortgaged homes considered seriously underwater declined nationwide during the second quarter of 2024 to one in 42. That was down from one in 37 in the first quarter of 2024 and one in 36 in the second quarter of last year – well below the ratio of one in 15 recorded in 2019. The rate decreased in 47 states quarterly and 37 states annually.

As with rising equity-rich levels, the biggest decreases in seriously underwater mortgages were clustered mainly in the South and Midwest. The largest quarterly decreases were in Wyoming (share of mortgaged homes that were seriously underwater down from 8.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2024), Kentucky (down from 8.3 percent to 6.3 percent), Illinois (down from 5.2 percent to 4 percent), Oklahoma (down from 6.1 percent to 5 percent) and Alabama (down from 3.6 percent to 2.8 percent).

On the flip side, two states saw slight increases in the percentage of seriously underwater homes from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2024. They were Utah (up from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent) and South Dakota (up from 3 percent to 3.1 percent). The rate was unchanged in three states: New Mexico (2.6 percent), Kansas (2.9 percent) and Idaho (2.4 percent).

Largest levels of equity-rich homeowners still in higher-priced markets of Northeast and West
The 10 states with the highest levels of equity-rich mortgaged properties around the U.S. during the second quarter of 2024 again were in the Northeast or West regions. Those with the largest portions were Vermont (83.5 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich), Maine (61.5 percent), New Hampshire (61.1 percent), Montana (61.1 percent) and Rhode Island (60.2 percent).

Nine of the 10 states with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties during the second quarter of 2024 were in the Midwest or South. The smallest portions were in Louisiana (21 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich), Alaska (31 percent), North Dakota (32 percent), West Virginia (33.6 percent) and Oklahoma (34.5 percent).

Among 107 metropolitan statistical areas around the nation with a population of at least 500,000, upscale markets where median home values topped $400,000 again dominated the list of places with the highest portion of mortgaged properties that were equity-rich during the second quarter. (See ATTOM’s latest Q2 2024 U.S. home sales report)

Those markets were led by San Jose, CA (70.4 percent equity-rich, with a second-quarter median home price of $1.6 million); Miami, FL (65.4 percent, with a median price of $485,000); San Diego, CA (65.4 percent, with a median price of $910,000); Los Angeles, CA (65.3 percent, with a median price of $963,500) and Portland, ME (65.1 percent, with a median price of $499,411).

The leader in the Midwest continued to be Grand Rapids, MI (57.2 percent equity-rich, with a median price of $325,000).

The metro areas with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties in the second quarter of 2024 remained mostly in low-priced markets of the South and Midwest. The smallest levels were in Baton Rouge, LA (17.5 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich, with a second-quarter median home price of $235,000); New Orleans, LA (27.1 percent, with a median price of $255,000); Jackson, MS (29.2 percent, with a median price of $262,421); Virginia Beach, VA (30.3 percent, with a median price of $329,000) and Little Rock, AR (32.5 percent, with a median price of $224,268).

The portion of mortgaged homes considered equity rich increased from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024 in 99 of the 107 metro areas with sufficient data (93 percent), but was still down from the second quarter of 2023 to the same period of 2024 in 57 percent.

Top equity-rich counties again concentrated in Midwest, Northeast and West
Among 1,747 counties that had at least 2,500 homes with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, the top 30 equity-rich locations were spread across the Midwest, Northeast or West regions, with Michigan and Vermont leading the way.

Counties with the highest share of equity-rich properties were Chittenden County (Burlington), VT (90.8 percent equity rich); Benzie County (Beulah), MI (89.2 percent); Manistee County, MI (86.6 percent); Washington County (Montpelier), VT (86.3 percent) and Marquette County, MI (85.4 percent).

Counties with populations of at least 500,000 and the highest equity-rich levels were Santa Clara County (San Jose), CA (71.4 percent equity-rich); Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) (69.9 percent); Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach), FL (68.2 percent); Miami-Dade County, FL (67.6 percent) and San Diego County, CA (65.4 percent).

Nineteen of the 20 counties with the smallest share of equity-rich homes in the second quarter of 2024 were in the South. The lowest were in Vernon Parish (Leesville), LA (5.4 percent equity rich); Long County, GA (south of Savannah) (9.2 percent); Ascension Parish, LA (outside Baton Rouge) (9.7 percent); Acadia Parish, LA (outside Lafayette) (10 percent) and Arkansas County, AR (east of Little Rock (10.7 percent).

Counties with populations of at least 500,000 and the smallest equity-rich portions were Cook County (Chicago), IL (34.8 percent equity-rich); Hennepin County (Minneapolis), MN (38.6 percent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (39 percent); Philadelphia County, PA (40.6 percent) and New York County (Manhattan), NY (43.1 percent).

At least 50 percent of all mortgaged properties considered equity-rich in almost half of all U.S. zip codes
Among 9,120 U.S. zip codes that had at least 2,000 residential properties with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, there were 4,263 (46.7 percent) where at least half the mortgaged properties were equity-rich.

Among the top 50 zip codes, 41 were in California, Florida or Texas, including five each in Santa Barbara, CA, and Irvine, CA. The largest shares were in zip codes 49855 in Marquette, MI (87.1 percent of mortgaged properties were equity-rich); 93110 in Santa Barbara, CA (86.2 percent); 92657 in Newport Coast, CA (85.9 percent); 57702 in Rapid City, SD (85.5 percent) and 76115 in Fort Worth, TX (85.4 percent).

Largest shares of seriously underwater mortgages continue in Midwest and South
The Midwest and South regions had 18 of the top 20 states with the highest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the second quarter of this year. The top five were Louisiana (10.5 percent seriously underwater), Mississippi (6.8 percent), Kentucky (6.3 percent), Arkansas (5.4 percent) and Iowa (5.2 percent).

The smallest shares were in Vermont (0.7 percent seriously underwater), Rhode Island (0.9 percent), New Hampshire (1 percent), Massachusetts (1.1 percent) and California (1.2 percent).

Among 107 metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 500,000, those with the largest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater in the second quarter of 2024 were Baton Rouge, LA (11 percent); New Orleans, LA (7.4 percent); Jackson, MS (6.1 percent); Little Rock, AR (4.7 percent) and Lexington, KY (4.7 percent).

More than 20 percent of residential mortgages seriously underwater in less than 1 percent zip codes
Among the 9,120 U.S. zip codes that had at least 2,000 homes with mortgages in the second quarter of 2024, there were only 19 locations where more than 20 percent of mortgaged properties were seriously underwater.

The top five zip codes with the largest shares of seriously underwater properties in the second quarter of 2024 were 39180 in Vicksburg, MI (38.8 percent of mortgaged homes were seriously underwater); 42445 in Princeton, KY (36 percent); 71446 in Leesville, LA (33.4 percent); 44108 in Cleveland, OH (32.7 percent) and 44112 in Cleveland, OH (30 percent).

Report methodology
The ATTOM U.S. Home Equity & Underwater report provides counts of properties based on several categories of equity — or loan to value (LTV) — at the state, metro, county and zip code level, along with the percentage of total properties with a mortgage that each equity category represents. The equity/LTV is calculated based on record-level loan model estimating position and amount of loans secured by a property and a record-level automated valuation model (AVM) derived from publicly recorded mortgage and deed of trust data collected and licensed by ATTOM nationwide for more than 155 million U.S. properties. The ATTOM Home Equity and Underwater report has been updated and modified to better reflect a housing market focused on the traditional home buying process. ATTOM found that markets where investors were more prominent, they would offset the loan to value ratio due to sales involving multiple properties with a single jumbo loan encompassing all of the properties. Therefore, going forward such activity is now excluded from the reports in order to provide traditional consumer home purchase and loan activity.

Definitions
Seriously underwater: Loan to value ratio of 125 percent or above, meaning the property owner owed at least 25 percent more than the estimated market value of the property.

Equity-rich: Loan to value ratio of 50 percent or lower, meaning the property owner had at least 50 percent equity. 

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency, and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloud, bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications– AI-Ready Solutions. 

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com 

Data and Report Licensing:
datareports@attomdata.com

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Primero Games Acquires Win Systems Gaming Division, Expanding International Reach

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September 4, 2026

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Acquisition adds slot and electronic-roulette products, manufacturing capabilities and an installed base of more than 3,000 gaming positions across Latin America and the Caribbean.

NORCROSS, Ga., Sept. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Primero Games LLC (“Primero”), a provider of gaming content, technology and products, today announced the acquisition of the Gaming Division of Win Systems (“WSG”), including its Gold Club electronic-roulette business.

The acquisition expands Primero’s international presence and product portfolio, adding established slot and electronic-roulette products, manufacturing capabilities and gaming operations across Latin America and the Caribbean. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquired operations have an installed base of more than 3,000 gaming positions in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Panama. Primero will support existing customers and products while introducing additional Primero game content, platform technology and development resources.

“This is an important step forward in executing Primero’s growth strategy to build a diversified, global gaming company,” said Mike Macke, Chairman of Primero Games. “Primero has built its reputation by creating compelling game content and developing innovative technology that helps operators deliver consistent revenue via engaging player experiences.”

“We are excited to welcome Eric Benchimol, Dario Zutel, and the talented WSG team to Primero,” Macke continued. “By combining Primero’s content and development expertise with WSG’s products, operations and customer relationships, we can deliver more products, more content and greater value to customers across a wider range of gaming markets.”

“This combination makes both businesses stronger,” said Eric Benchimol, CEO of Win Systems. “Pairing our installed base, manufacturing operations and market knowledge with Primero’s game library and development engine means we can bring more, and better, products to our customers faster than either company could alone. The team is energized, and we’re looking forward to getting to work as part of Primero.”

“This transaction marks an exciting new chapter for our Gaming Division,” said Dario Zutel, Executive Chairman of Win Systems. “We are confident that Primero Games is the right partner to build on what we have achieved and drive the business into its next stage of international growth.”

Building International Scale

Primero has an established presence in U.S. gaming markets, with a portfolio that includes game content, online gaming solutions, redemption kiosks, and a mature omnichannel gaming platform.  The WSG acquisition adds established products, manufacturing capabilities and long-standing customer relationships in international markets.

The WSG teams and infrastructure will continue to support customers in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Panama and many other countries around the world. Primero and WSG are committed to providing continuity for every customer as Primero invests in the business and introduces additional products, content and technology.

About Primero Games

Primero Games is a leading provider of innovative games, platforms and products designed to deliver engaging player experiences and value to gaming operators across land-based and digital environments. Founded by gaming-industry veteran Mike Macke, Primero has made significant investment in its Hurricane gaming platform to support international expansion. The Hurricane platform is designed to support offline, online, single, and multi-game applications across emerging and regulated gaming markets. Primero’s Spark server-based gaming solution extends the Hurricane platform by offering value-added features such as business intelligence, linked and wide-area progressive jackpots, game content subscription features, and player marketing/retention.

Headquartered in the United States, the company designs, manufactures and markets a portfolio of more than 100 original titles for land-based and multi-game platforms, as well as online games for markets worldwide. With studios in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, Primero combines international creative talent with deep technical expertise to produce high-performing, scalable gaming solutions. For more information, visit www.primerogames.com.

About Win Systems

Win Systems is a global technology company with extensive experience providing innovative solutions to the gaming industry. Through its international operations and long-standing customer relationships, the company specializes in casino management systems and has a strong track record of delivering technology and solutions to operators across multiple markets worldwide. Following the transaction, Win Systems will continue to focus on its remaining businesses and strategic opportunities, building on its technology expertise, international experience, and commitment to delivering value to its customers and partners.

Contacts:

Primero Games
Gina Lanphear, Director of Marketing
422019@email4pr.com 

WinSystems Gaming
Virginia Pin, Marketing Manager
422019@email4pr.com 

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SOURCE Primero Games

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AEON Launches Agentic Checkout, Powered by AI Card for Autonomous Commerce

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September 4, 2026

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HONG KONG, Sept. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — AEON, the settlement layer built for the AI economy, has launched Agentic Checkout, enabling AI agents to autonomously shop, check out, and pay across e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and Amazon. Powered by the AEON AI Card, Agentic Checkout gives agents controlled spending capabilities to turn user intent into completed purchases.

Natively integrated with Model Context Protocol (MCP) and the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), Agentic Checkout allows users to interact with an AI agent through a conversational interface, describe what they are looking for, and let the agent search for suitable products and build a shopping cart based on their requirements.

Once a product is selected, the user can authorize the purchase with an AEON AI Card settled over the Visa/Mastercard networks, allowing the agent to complete the transaction without exposing the user’s primary payment credentials or treasury wallet. The agent can move from product discovery to cart creation and payment, turning a natural-language request into a completed purchase.

AI Card: Giving AI Agents Controlled Spending Power

At the core of this experience is the AEON AI Card, designed to give AI agents financial autonomy while keeping spending under defined controls. 

The infrastructure supports single-use agent cards and predefined budget limits, allowing spending authority to be scoped to individual tasks or transactions. Backed by crypto-based authorization and connected to existing Visa payment infrastructure, the AI Card creates a bridge between on-chain assets and everyday commerce.

This allows agents to spend on behalf of users without requiring direct access to their primary wallets or traditional credit cards, bringing agentic commerce closer to a model where AI can not only assist users with decisions, but also securely execute those decisions in the real economy. 

Agentic Checkout to Bigger Commerce Ecosystem

Agentic Checkout is designed to give AI agents access to an open commerce ecosystem, rather than a limited list of curated merchants. Through Shopify, agents can search across 3M+ active storefronts in 175+ countries and more than a billion products, spanning categories including apparel, home, beauty, electronics, and books.

Shopify is one of the first environments where AEON’s Agentic Checkout capability is being demonstrated, but the underlying infrastructure is designed to extend across e-commerce ecosystems and support both physical and digital goods. Amazon and Travala are next, bringing mass-market retail and travel inventory into the same agent interface.

The infrastructure is also designed with the safeguards required for production use. Full card numbers and security codes never enter conversation logs or model context, while uncertain payment states are verified before any retry to prevent silent double charges.

As more commerce platforms become accessible to AI agents, the ability to securely authorize and settle these transactions will become increasingly important. AEON Agentic Checkout and AI Card provides the financial execution layer that allows agents to act within defined spending boundaries. And AEON is building the settlement infrastructure to enable these agents to transact, pay, and settle securely across the digital and physical economies.

Building the Settlement Layer for the AI Economy

The Agentic Checkout and AI Card represent two connected components of AEON’s agentic payment infrastructure: Agentic Checkout gives agents the ability to execute commerce, while AI Card gives them controlled financial authority to pay for it. Together, they connect agent intent, payment authorization, checkout execution, and settlement into a unified flow.

AI agents are increasingly capable of searching, reasoning, coordinating tasks, and making decisions on behalf of users. The next step is enabling those decisions to result in secure, verifiable economic transactions. AEON is building toward this infrastructure by combining agent identity, payment authorization, checkout execution, and settlement into a unified framework for the AI economy, enabling AI agents to transact across digital and physical economies, autonomously, securely, and within clearly defined financial boundaries.

About AEON

AEON is the native settlement layer built for the AI economy. By equipping agents with a comprehensive suite of programmable payment primitives, spanning across Agent Account, AI Card, AI Gateway, and more, AEON empowers autonomous AI to seamlessly navigate global value networks. Designed to eliminate the fee overhead, programmability gaps, and settlement lag of legacy infrastructure, AEON provides the universal financial rails needed for agents to enter the global economy across any currency, chain, or protocol.

Natively integrating with leading standards like x402, ERC-8004, MCP, and Google A2A, AEON enables verifiable AI payments at scale and connects agentic capabilities directly to a network of 50M+ global merchants. Having processed over $514M in cumulative volume for 2.3M+ users, AEON is backed by top investors including YZi Labs, IDG Capital, HashKey Capital, and the Stanford Blockchain Builders Fund. The $AEON token is live on major global exchanges including OKX, Bitget, Binance Alpha and Bithumb.

Website | X | Telegram | Medium | AEON Pay

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WOODLAND DIRECT OPENS NEW DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN RENO, NV

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September 4, 2026

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Woodland Direct, the nation’s premier e-commerce site for fire products, is opening a new 47,000-square-foot distribution center in Reno, NV. This is the company’s second distribution center, joining its world headquarters and distribution center in Auburn Hills, MI.

The new facility, officially opening in September, will improve the customer experience by shortening shipping times for West Coast customers.

“Woodland Direct has grown and evolved substantially over the past several years,” said President and Founder Andrew Ingram. “We already ship all around the country. By opening the Reno distribution center, we’re able to serve our West Coast customers more quickly and efficiently.”

The leadership team began exploring the idea of opening a second distribution center in the final quarter of 2025. Woodland worked with logistics consultants to determine whether an expansion west of the Rocky Mountains made sense, and Reno’s strategic location made it a natural choice for the expansion.

“We are excited to be a part of the Reno community, and we look forward to making our customers’ experience even more enjoyable,” said Gunnar Bennethum, senior manager of supply chain operations and business planning.

In addition to using local Reno companies Engineered Solutions, Teledata Technologies, and WTR Electrical to build and prep the warehouse, Bennethum and Warehouse Assistant Wesley Davey will be making the move from Auburn Hills to Reno to oversee operations.

The Reno distribution center will be using industry-standard software NetSuite to increase efficiency.

“This will be a new milestone for Woodland,” Bennethum added, “that will improve our inventory accuracy and allow our sales team to have better visibility of product availability.”

For more information on Woodland Direct, visit our website www.woodlanddirect.com/ or contact Drew Maresco at drew.maresco@woodlanddirect.com or (877) 771-2925.

ABOUT WOODLAND DIRECT

Woodland Direct is a premier online retailer specializing in fireplaces, patio heaters, fire pits, and outdoor living products. Founded in 2004, Woodland Direct offers a curated selection of top fire brands to homeowners, contractors, and businesses. Woodland Direct has the most NFI-certified sales professionals and Master Hearth Professionals under one roof. For more information, visit woodlanddirect.com.

Media Contact:

Drew Maresco

Drew.maresco@woodlanddirect.com

(877) 771-2925

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