Home Appreciation, Past 10 Years

As this graph shows, Over the past 10 years, ups and downs in Wake County real estate prices have been relatively modest.  No big bubble — no big bust.   Most people who bought residential real estate before 2006 are selling at or above what they paid, those who bought after 2006 are going to get less than they paid.  Admittedly, the percentages are cummulative and the numbers are large, so even these modest percentages can be a painful hit to the seller’s wallet.

However, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.   During the good times, too many homeowners treated their homes like a piggy bank.  Either via refinancing or a home equity line, they pulled cash out of their homes by increasing the debt attached to them.  I know a retired couple who have lived in their home for 26 years — but they refinanced to bail their grown son out of his financial mess, and now they’re in one of their own.  At an age when they would rather downsize to something smaller, they’re stuck with a big house and a big mortgage.

Will the numbers turn positive again?  Of course they will.  The question is, when?

(Calculations and graph courtesy of the Triange Area Real Estate Report.)