Equity in homes is going up for the first time since the real estate bust began. That's a clear sign of recovery in so many places.

One third of Americans who have a home now own it free and clear, according to the latest data from Zillow.

The cities where most Americans own their homes include Tampa, Miami, New York City, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.

On the flip side, the cities where Americans have the least amount of home equity include Atlanta, Denver, Charlotte, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas.

There's a real advantage to the U.S. economy when people have meaningful equity. They can move and go where the jobs are. And much of the Heartland has high-paying job openings in the energy sector going unfilled because they can't find workers.  

That's been the problem over the past few years. We had the worst possible scenario with the recession and the real estate bust. The combo effectively meant that people couldn't sell and move to where the jobs are because they were underwater on their home mortgage.

So here's hoping that will soon  be a thing of the past!