| The U.S. housing market has gained back all $9 trillion in value it lost when the market collapsed, but the uneven nature of the crisis and subsequent recovery has left many housing markets trailing behind, while others surge further ahead, according to a new Zillow report.
More than half of the nation’s largest housing markets have regained all of the value lost during the recession, with the typical U.S. home worth $55,200 more than it was at the bottom of the housing bust, according to the report.
The median home in Boston lost about 19.3 percent of its value during the housing crisis. Since then, prices have soared 42 percent, restoring $130,400 in value to an average Boston homeowner; that’s $56,400 higher than the bubble peak and higher than the national average.
When the housing bubble burst in 2007, home values plummeted, and the typical American home lost 23 percent of its value. Since then, national home values have returned to their previous level, but the recovery has not been the same in all regions of the country.
West Coast markets have seen the strongest gains in home value, driven by healthy job growth and limited inventory exacerbated by limitations on new construction. The Sand States that saw the biggest losses when the housing market crashed have yet to fully recover.
“A decade after the financial crisis, the scars of the housing bust are still with us,” Zillow Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas said in a statement. “The gap between the metros with the strongest and weakest housing market recoveries is as wide as it has ever been. The California Bay Area’s housing recovery stands out when compared to other markets that saw similar home value appreciation because it has more than regained all of its lost value. Strong, high-paying job markets and persistently limited inventory sent prices skyrocketing, leading to the Bay Area having the most valuable housing markets in the country.”
Nationally, home values hit their lowest point in December 2012. Individual markets bottomed out between July 2011 and December 2012.
