Middle-income homeowners accumulated an average of $122,100 in wealth as their homes appreciated by 68% in the past decade, according to a housing report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released on Tuesday.
Low-income homeowners built $98,900 in wealth in the past 10 years from home price appreciation only, while upper-income households generated $150,800.
NAR released the report, called Wealth Gains by Income and Racial/Ethnic Group, during its Realtor Broker Summit as evidence of what it says is the value agents and realtors bring to consumers when helping buy and sell homes that build generational wealth.
Data showed substantial variations and inequalities in homeownership rates across various income and racial and ethnic groups.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said that "this analysis shows how homeownership is a catalyst for building wealth for people from all walks of life. A monthly mortgage payment is often considered a forced savings account that helps homeowners build a net worth about 40 times higher than that of a renter."
Even though Black homeowners had the smallest wealth gains among any other racial or ethnic group, they still accumulated more than $115,000 in wealth in the past 10 years, according to the report.
In addition to the wealth gains accumulated in the past decade, homeowners also had their debt drop by 21%. Yun noted that many homeowners who refinanced and secured a rate lower than 4% soon after the outbreak of COVID-19 may have paid off an even larger amount of their mortgage.
The report also documented that no matter the income level, owners who live in expensive metro areas experienced the largest wealth gains, while in the areas with the highest homeownership rates for low-income households, wealth gains were substantially lower.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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