Home values higher than ever in a quarter of markets
Homes are priced higher than ever before in more than a quarter of U.S. housing markets. This results from steady home value growth in recent years, which allowed many housing markets to eclipse previous records set during the housing bubble, according to a report by Zillow Real Estate.
"Homes were worth more than ever before in 26 percent of U.S. housing markets," indicating those markets are close to a full recovery, it was noted in a Zillow news release.
"Over the past year, housing markets in the South have joined Western housing markets blowing past their previous median home value highs. Dallas home values set a record at $180,700 in February, up 13.7 percent from last February. Louisville, Kentucky, values rose 13.2 percent to $146,100, and Nashville, Tennessee, home values rose 9.5 percent to a median of $189,100.
"The record-high prices, combined with low inventory, make it difficult to buy a home in many markets, especially for renters trying to save for a down payment among historically high rental costs."
The report pointed out that the greatest price gains are in Western markets.
"Median home values in hot Western markets such as Denver and San Jose (California) continued to zoom past previous highs with double-digit growth, but other markets have more quietly surpassed their previous peaks and continue to grow.
"Many experts surveyed said they are concerned homes in San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego and Los Angeles are overvalued and approaching bubble conditions.
"These new records mean we're no longer making up ground lost during the housing recession - we're laying a new path forward, based on demand for housing and economic growth throughout the economy," said Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell. "In some markets, these new highs are a return to normalcy. The fact that other markets are still off by double digits may not mean those markets are far from being recovered. It just highlights how extraordinarily inflated home values had been during the housing bubble."
Q. Are seniors regaining the equity in their homes?
A. Yes, substantially. Here's a quote from a major organization:
"Homes owned by seniors are seeing equity soar over their pre-recession peak. Seniors saw an estimated $140.2 billion increase in the aggregate value of their homes to a total of $5.83 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2015.
"That marks an all-time high," according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, as reported by the National Association of Realtors.
Q: Are many of our housing markets now back to normal, or close to it?
A. Freddie Mac released its report showing that many of the nation's housing markets are getting back to normal now that we are into the spring homebuying season. However, there are pockets of weakness.
"The national MiMi value stands at 82.7, indicating a housing market that's on the outer range of its historic benchmark level of housing activity, and little changed with just a +0.18 percent improvement from December to January and a three-month improvement of +1.46 percent.
"However, on a year-over-year basis, the national MiMi value has improved +7.57 percent. Since its all-time low in October 2010, the national MiMi has rebounded 40 percent, but remains significantly off from its high of 121.7."
• Email Jim Woodard at storyjim@aol.com.
© 2016, Creators Syndicate