Over the past decade, homeowners have seen massive increases in wealth. However, most of the wealth went to the wealthiest households. Over the last decade, home wealth has increased $8.2 trillion dollars, but the middle to low income households saw only 26% and 4% respectively. In addition to the wider gap, as home prices have inflated, most middle and low income households are priced out of the new housing market. Places like Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas and some towns in California saw increases of over 200%. Although middle to low income homeownership fell, the number of middle income homeowners increased in a bout 917 cities across the country. These cities and markets include Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Orlando, Portland, and Seattle. The cities with the largest drop in middle income households over the last decade were Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia.
This is yet another example of homeownership leading being a proven method for building long-term wealth. Home values do generally increase over time. Maybe not by as much as the past year, but they do appreciate in value. For example, if you bought a typical home 10 years ago for $162,600, you’re likely to have accumulated $229,400 in housing wealth according to the National Association of Realtors.