It’s pretty evident that home prices and home values were up last year and are still continuing to rise, but just how much they rose may come as a surprise. The total of home values in the United States rose last year by close to $2 trillion from 2016, reaching $31.8 trillion in 2017.
According to Zillow, that’s more than one-and-a-half times our nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and three times the GDP of China. Home values in just the Los Angeles metro area alone totaled $2.7 trillion, more than the United Kingdom’s GDP.
Which Housing Market Had the Most Home Value Growth?
Columbus, Ohio, reportedly experienced the biggest home value growth last year out of the 35 largest housing markets in the country. Home values in the Columbus area grew by 15.1 percent to total $152.3 billion.
What Is the Median Home Value?
The median value of a home in the U.S. came in at $205,100 in November of 2017, up by close to 7% from the same month the previous year. But Zillow predicts home values will continue to grow in 2018, even though at a slower rate of 3.2 percent in 2018.
More Money Also Spent in Rent
The amount of money spent in the U.S. on home rent was also up in 2017, by $4.9 billion from the previous year. Renters paid more than $485 billion in rent last year, with the median rent for November of 2017 coming in at $1,599.
Renters also reportedly spend a greater portion of their income on housing than they used to. The median U.S. rent now accounts for about 30 percent of household income, as compared to about 25 percent during the 15-year period from 1985 to 2000. The higher costs of housing, of course, makes it even harder for renters who want to buy homes to save for down payments.
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