Despite the 2001 recession and weak recovery, "by most measures 2002 was the strongest year for housing on record," according to an annual report by The Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies.The report, "The State of the Nation's Housing," found that residential investment, home sales, homeownership rates, aggregate home equity, and total mortgage debt "all hit new highs" in 2002. For example, cash-out refinancings generated back into the economy an estimated $97 billion from home equity, with another $70 billion going toward the payoff of higher-cost second mortgages. The report was unveiled June 17 at the headquarters of the Ford Foundation in New York.
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