This article written by Ben Lane talks about how the value of homes owned by lower-income owners has increased by 75% since 2012. The study found that lower-income homeowners saw an increase of $5,000 on their home values, which beats out the 62% increase among all homeowners nationwide. This growth has almost erased the gap between lower-income homeowners and their higher income counterparts.

The study performed by the research team of Zillow and the University of Southern California looked at mortgage data from HUD for the years of 2012 and 2018, looking at the values of more than 20 million homes. The studies’ conclusions found that there had been an increase of $5,000 in median value on homes owned by lower-income owners, while higher-income owners only saw their home values increase by $3,000.

Lower-income homeowners are now better off in terms of their home values than they were before 2012. The reasons for this shift can be attributed to a number of factors; the rise in the housing market, relaxed credit standards and a decrease in foreclosure rates. The shift in the housing market and in consumer sentiment towards over leveraging seems to be doing well for lower-income home owners and those hoping to become homeowners. A second major factor to consider is the decrease in foreclosure rates. Though the foreclosure rate for lower-income families is much higher than their higher-income counterparts, a decrease from the typical five-year trend is greatly beneficial.

The study indicated that the nationwide increase in values as a result of these shifts has almost evened out the gap between lower-income and higher-income homeowners. These shifts have opened up the market for many would be homeowners who would have previously been excluded due to a lack of resources. Lower-income owners of homes have seen a large benefit of the market’s swings since 2012, to the point where they are now almost on par with higher-income owners in terms of home value increase. The study concluded with a reiteration that more policies need to be put in place that can help the lower-income population in the long run.

You can read this full article at: https://www.housingwire.com/articles/low-income-owners-home-values-have-increased-by-75-since-2012/(subscription required)

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