Home Prices Have Shot Up Way More Than You Thought Since the Recession!

Quite a bit has changed since the housing bubble burst and the world plunged into a bleak recession. Rampant layoffs have been replaced by a booming economy and hiring sprees. A housing market pocked by foreclosures and abandoned construction sites is now on fire.

But the postcrash price growth might actually be higher than most thought. Home prices shot up a cumulative 50% over the past decade, from June 2009 through May 2019, according to a recent report from real estate information provider CoreLogic. Meanwhile, the cost to rent a single-family home surged 33% over the same period.

Wages also rose over the past decade, but not nearly that much.

"Home prices are going up faster than incomes, and that's led to some of the affordability challenges that we see in the market," says Chief Economist Danielle Hale of realtor.com®. "Homes were basically on sale during the recession. ... [Today's high prices] create a bigger hurdle to get into the housing market."

The country has now seen more than 120 straight months of economic expansion.

“During the last nine years, the expansion has created more than 20 million jobs, raised family incomes, and rebuilt consumer confidence,” CoreLogic's Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement. Low mortgage rates under 5% have also given the housing market a boost.

"These economic forces have driven a recovery in home sales, construction, prices, and home equity wealth," he said.

By Clare Trapasso | Jul 18, 2019