According to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors®, middle-class homeowners who bought property during the Great Recession have amassed a fortune of more than $122,000 as a result of rising home values. The value of their homes has soared by 68% since 2012.
As house prices have soared over the past decade, low-income and affluent homeowners have also benefited from the hot housing market. Low-income homeowners have seen their homes increase in value by around $99,000 over the same period. Wealthier homeowners saw gains of almost $151,000.
"Everyone can build wealth through home ownership. There are significant long-term and financial benefits," said Nadia Evangelou, senior economist at NAR." Mortgage payments are also often thought of as a forced savings account. [And] the value of a home increases over time, so homeowners can build wealth from price appreciation."
Homeowners typically have 40 times the net worth of renters, and homebuyers typically have higher incomes and credit scores than many renters.
Those who live in the most expensive metros experience the greatest appreciation. In San Jose, California, the heart of Silicon Valley, middle-class homeowners have created approximately $643,000 in wealth over the past decade.
The growth in net worth has helped homeowners across the country cope with expensive emergencies, finance big-ticket items like a college education, pay down debt and purchase new trade-in or second homes.
"Homeownership helps create long-term wealth and financial stability for your family and future generations," said Kenny Purcell, president of the National Association of Realtors, in a statement.
However, black homeowners have seen the lowest home appreciation of any racial group. Since 2012, their properties have appreciated by about $115,000 - compared to $239,000 for Asian homeowners, $162,000 for Hispanic homeowners and $138,000 for white homeowners.
Black Americans also have the lowest homeownership rate in the country, at 44.9 per cent at the end of 2022, compared to 74.9 per cent for white Americans. Much of this disparity is due to discriminatory housing policies, such as redistricting, which prohibits people of colour from buying homes in predominantly white neighbourhoods. The federal government and lenders also make it more difficult - if not impossible - for them to access the low-cost mortgages offered to white Americans.
"It's more challenging for black Americans to buy a home because fewer of them can afford [to do so]," Evangelo said.
According to NAR's analysis, the median value of a home owned by black Americans is $240,000. The median value of Hispanic-owned homes is about $308,000, and the median value of white-owned homes is $310,000. Asian-owned homes had the highest median value at about $575,000.
"Although black homeowners did not receive as much equity as other racial and ethnic groups, the amount they received was still significant," Evangelue said.
