Pacific states grab 37% of past decade's home equity gain

In the decade ending in June, close to $9 trillion in additional owner-occupied real estate wealth was gained by U.S. households. Pacific states, led by California, grabbed 37% of this gain.

Property-value estimates by the Federal Reserve using data constructed by Zillow and property-count estimates from the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census found that the aggregate value of owner-occupied real estate rose from $18.9 trillion in June 2009 to $27.8 trillion in June 2019, nationally. More than $2.6 trillion of this increase occurred in California alone.

The changes in real estate wealth were not equally distributed. Pacific and Mountain state properties increased their share of the total from 30.2% to 36%.

Most other Census divisions saw their share decline. For example, the combined mid-Atlantic and New England areas saw close to a three percentage share drop. They now represent 21% of U.S. housing equity.

About half of the home equity gain in the last decade, roughly $4.3 trillion, occurred in the Mountain and Pacific regions. The former includes the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The latter group is Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

Bloomberg News
Real estate Housing markets Appraisals Census Bureau Federal Reserve Zillow
MORE FROM NATIONAL MORTGAGE NEWS