Today’s Housing

WHAT’S THE STATE of the property market? Here are the latest statistics:

• Home prices rose 18.8% in 2021, as measured by S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. Among major cities, Phoenix and Tampa posted gains of around 30%. Meanwhile, Washington, DC, was the weakest major urban market, but even it was up more than 10%. Nationally, home prices are up 108% since the early 2012 market low, but are just 51% above the mid-2006 peak.
• Existing single-family homes sold for a median $362,600 in November 2021, up 14.9% from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, existing condos sold for $283,200, up 4.4% from November 2020. These averages disguise huge variations, with even modest homes in cities on the two coasts often costing three or five times as much.
• As of year-end 2021, a 30-year fixed rate mortgage cost 3.1%, up from 2.7% at year-end 2020.
• Housing affordability deteriorated in 2021, calculates the National Association of Realtors. Affordability is assessed by looking at the typical home price, typical family income and current mortgage rates. Home prices posted strong increases during 2021 and mortgage rates rose, while median incomes climbed only modestly, failing to offset higher housing costs.
• First-time home buyers have a median age of 33, a median household income of $86,500 and account for 34% of house purchases, says the National Association of Realtors.
• If you remodel your home and then sell within a year, you’ll recoup an average 60% of the money—meaning you’ll lose 40 cents of every $1 spent, according to the 2021 cost vs. value report from Remodeling magazine.
• As of 2019, 64.9% of American families owned their home and 13.1% owned a place that isn’t their main residence, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. That 13.1% includes second homes, rental properties and time shares. The survey also found that, among homeowners, 64.8% have a mortgage or other debt that’s secured by their home.

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