New stats from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) offer refreshingly positive news about home price gains in 93% of the nearly 300 metropolitan markets included in a late November report. According to the report, which was a survey of home values over the past five years in 292 metro areas, 273 markets saw positive price growth, while only 19 experienced negative numbers.
The report looked at home prices from the previous 60 months. In Chicago, which saw a slight price decrease this year (3.8%), there was a 28% increase in home prices since 2003, according to the FHFA survey. This information falls in line with the notion that real estate is a long-term investment. Those who plan to stay in a home for 5 – 10 years will typically see a positive net value in the duration of ownership.
Several areas had higher home prices even within this past year. Mostly in cities where there were not huge price spikes during the building boom, so prices did not come crashing down either. The worst depreciation was in places like Florida, California and Nevada.
The FHFA report examined mortgages and refinances backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The data does not include properties that were financed with jumbo loans.
