Half of All US Homes Are More Valuable than Pre-Recession Peak

Half of All US Homes Are More Valuable than Pre-Recession Peak.

A decade after the U.S. housing market collapsed, half of the country's homes have regained the value they lost during the recession, according to the June Zillow Real Estate Market Report.

Nationally, the median home value is $217,300, up 8.3 percent over the past year and 8.4 percent above the highest point of the housing bubble. The median home value has surpassed its bubble peak level in 21 of the nation's 35 largest housing markets.

In places that have seen some of the strongest growth since the market crashed, nearly every home is now more valuable than it was during the boom years. However it is not the same everywhere in the Country, and this article implies that there are still about 1/2 of the homes which have not caught up yet with the pre-recession levels.  

Which in my mind is a good reminder that a financial crisis leaves long-lasting scars, and that prudence should be the norm when it comes to financial markets.

Thank you for reading, and let me know when you have a real estate question or need.
Francis

Home Valuation tool
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates   (slight recent uptick)
A worthy local non-profit to remember: Community Services Agency in Mountain View.

California Home Price Fundamentals

California Home Price Fundamentals.

Check out this interactive map of the “Home Price Fundamentals” for California, and individual Counties.

The interactive tool is provided by the California Association of Realtors (CAR)

Some of these graphs are most interesting, like the one called “Years of Savings Required for Down payment”, which is now close to 20.  The one called “Price to Income Ratio” shows that it takes about 8.3 years of paychecks to purchase the median priced home in California right now.

 

If you look at the County of Santa Clara though, the figures are staggering: it takes over 11 years of salary to afford the median priced home, and it takes over 26 years of savings (at 6% of savings rate) to afford the typical 20% down payment.

It also shows that in California, if you are in the median, it takes about 59% of the yearly income to pay for your mortgage...

Thank you for reading,

Francis

Home Valuation tool
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates   (slight recent uptick)
A worthy local non-profit to remember: Community Services Agency in Mountain View.

What Home Buyers Want...

From the California Association of Realtors, and Realtor.com:
these are the attributes most likely to be seeked by homebuyers:

Another thing that I would definitely add to this picture is, for buyers 55+ and older:
- a one-level property with no stairs.
... and in general, my experience is that would-be home buyers are more attracted by homes with a lot of natural light and an open floor plan, and will sacrifice other features in order to get that.

Francis
Home Valuation tool
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates   (slight recent decline)
A worthy local non-profit to remember: Community Services Agency in Mountain View.

Home prices going forward in the US... & Bay Area

US house prices are going to rise at twice the speed of inflation and pay: Reuters poll   
Source: CNBC Article

An acute shortage of affordable homes in the United States will continue over the coming year, according to a majority of property market analysts polled by Reuters, driving prices up faster than inflation and wage growth.

The latest poll of nearly 45 analysts taken May 16-June 5 showed the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 cities is expected to gain a further 5.7 percent this year.
That compared to predictions for average earnings growth of 2.8 percent and inflation of 2.5 percent 2018, according to a separate Reuters poll of economists.

U.S. house prices are then forecast to rise 4.3 percent next year and 3.6 percent in 2020.

A further breakdown of the April data showed the inventory of existing homes had declined for 35 straight months on an annual basis while the median house price was up for a 74th consecutive month.

About 80 percent of nearly 40 analysts who answered an extra question said the already tight supply of affordable homes in the United States will either stay the same or fall over the next 12 months.

In the Bay Area, things are not better.  The ratio of home completions to job growth is still very small, which will keep pressure on home prices here too:

.. while according to this article from the Mercury News, the nation's top three most expensive places for renters are here in the Bay Area...

Thank you for reading,

Francis
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
Price your home now
A worthy local non-profit to remember: Community Services Agency in Mountain View.