HUD Articles

According to Selma Hepp, Economist at CoreLogic, “For many households, home equity is the only source of wealth creation. As a result, recent record gains in equity and record declines in loan-to-value ratios will provide many owners with a financial  bufer in case economic conditions worsen. In addition, record equity continues to provide fuel for housing demand, particularly if households are relocating to more afordable areas.” Note: the Quad Cities (comprised of towns in Eastern Iowa and Northwestern Illinois) were recently ranked the 4th most afordable market in the country.

The net worth of a homeowner is 40 times greater than that of a renter. So when you compare home ownership to renting, it’s a huge diferentiator for peoples’ long term wealth gain.

Additional benefits of homeownership:

Security and stability

Privacy

Personalization and home improvement

Health benefits

Community/Neighborhood involvement

So if you are asking yourself, “should I buy a home this year?” – It’s important to factor the long term benefits of homeownership into your decision.

If you know people who bought a home 5, 10, or even 30 years ago, you’re probably going to have a hard time finding someone who regrets their decision. Why is that? The reason is tied to how you gain equity and wealth as home values grow with time. Home equity gains are built up through price appreciation and by paying of the mortgage through principal payments. Even though we expect home price appreciation to moderate over the next couple of years the map below shows the gains over the past five years.