Homeownership is widely recognized as the leading source of net worth among families. Housing wealth itself is primarily achieved by price-appreciation gains, and the nation has seen home prices accelerate at a record pace during the past decade.
A new study from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) — Housing Wealth Gains for the Rising Middle-Class Markets — examines the distribution of housing wealth between 2010 and 2020 across income groups and in 917 metropolitan or micropolitan areas.
NAR found that during those 10 years nearly 980,000 middle-income households became homeowners. Within that timeframe, total housing wealth for this income group surged by $2.1 trillion.
“Owning a home continues to be a proven method for building long-term wealth,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Home values generally grow over time, so homeowners begin the wealth-building process as soon as they make a down payment and move to pay down their mortgage
