Report: People Who Bought Homes in 2012 Have Earned a Total of $203B in Equity

Staff Report

Friday, September 27th, 2019

People who purchased homes in 2012 have earned a total of $203 billion in home equity, according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage. Individually, the typical homeowner who bought the year prices reached their lowest point following the Great Recession has earned $141,000, or 261 percent, in home equity.

The typical home that sold in 2012 has increased $110,000 in value, from a median sale price of $210,000 in 2012 to an estimated value of $320,000 in September 2019. The typical 2012 homebuyer started off with $54,000 in home equity and has $195,000 today.

The report is based on a Redfin analysis of the home equity earned from roughly 1.4 million homes purchased across 138 markets in the U.S. in 2012.

"The opportunity to build wealth through home equity when prices hit their low point was available only to a fortunate subset of Americans who had enough cash for a down payment," said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. "And now many people who weren't able to buy into homeownership during that window of time find themselves on the other side of the housing market coin: Many areas are just plain unaffordable for people who don't have equity built up to trade in for a new home. And those who are waiting in the wings, hoping to buy a home when the next recession hits, probably won't be as lucky as buyers were in 2012. Even if home prices do come down slightly, the housing market won't be impacted nearly as much as it was during the Great Recession and home equity gains won't be nearly as big."

The massive 12-figure total equity growth is driven by large, expensive coastal markets—mostly in California—where home values have increased by at least two-thirds and the typical homeowner has earned more than $300,000 in equity since 2012. The metros with the biggest total home equity gains in dollars are Los Angeles ($15 billion), Seattle ($8 billion) and Oakland ($7.9 billion).

Top 10 metro areas with the most total equity growth in dollars, from 2012 to 2019

Metro area

Median
Home Equity
Growth in
Dollars

Median
Home Equity
Percent
Growth

Total Equity
Growth

Median Home
Value Dollar
Growth

Median Home
Value Percent
Growth

Los
Angeles,
CA

$318,000

292%

$15,000,000,000

$265,000

67%

Seattle, WA

$364,000

461%

$8,010,000,000

$313,000

88%

Oakland,
CA

$461,000

369%

$7,920,000,000

$406,000

92%

San Jose,
CA

$669,000

360%

$7,610,000,000

$596,000

98%

Denver, CO

$222,000

555%

$7,210,000,000

$180,000

72%

Phoenix, AZ

$133,000

238%

$6,820,000,000

$110,000

68%

San
Francisco,
CA

$741,000

329%

$6,410,000,000

$644,000

92%

Anaheim,
CA

$311,000

219%

$6,290,000,000

$252,000

53%

San Diego,
CA

$283,000

277%

$6,140,000,000

$232,000

60%

Washington,
D.C.

$148,000

296%

$5,760,000,000

$98,000

27%

National

$141,000

261%

$203,000,000,000

$110,000

52%

The list of places with the biggest percent increases in home equity includes many metros near large U.S. military bases, including Tacoma, Washington (1453%) and Virginia Beach (1333%), home to the largest concentration of military personnel outside of the Pentagon. That commonality is partly explained by the fact that a lot of homebuyers in those areas would have been able to take advantage of a loan from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (known as a VA loan) or from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which often have small or no down-payment requirements, meaning their home equity started out particularly low in 2012.

"Just like many other places around the country, the Hampton Roads area, which includes Virginia Beach, was hit hard during the Great Recession. But because there's such a large military presence in Virginia Beach and its surrounding cities, our housing market will always be one of the most stable in the country," said local Redfin agent Jordan Hammond. "People in the military are able to obtain VA loans, and military buyers are also often able to obtain low interest rates. That turned out to be hugely beneficial for people in the area who bought homes in the wake of the recession."

Ellen Campion, a Redfin agent in Tacoma, said the housing market in her area is large enough that the military population is just one of many factors that have contributed to massive home-equity growth. "Buyers were paying too much in 2005 and 2006, and once the recession hit, a lot of those people unfortunately had their homes foreclosed on," Campion said. "So during and after the recession, folks were desperate and had to sell their homes for less than what they paid, and investors and savvy homebuyers snapped them up, often with the help of FHA loans. Now we're in a situation where it's the best of all worlds for sellers who bought homes back around 2012. The Tacoma market is so hot right now that those sellers are often able to earn six figures by selling average homes."

Top 10 metro areas with the biggest median percent home-equity growth, from 2012 to 2019

Metro area

Median
Home
Equity
Growth

Median Home
Equity Percent
Growth

Total Equity
Growth

Median Home
Value Dollar
Growth

Median Home
Value Percent
Growth

Tacoma,
WA

$218,000

1453%

$953,000,000

$165,000

76%

Virginia
Beach, VA

$80,000

1333%

$758,000,000

$44,000

21%

Greeley, CO

$192,000

1067%

$459,000,000

$157,000

84%

Spartanburg,
SC

$79,000

790%

$131,000,000

$58,000

47%

Salem, OR

$164,000

781%

$319,000,000

$131,000

80%

Modesto,
CA

$200,000

769%

$484,000,000

$169,000

112%

Colorado
Springs, CO

$149,000

677%

$859,000,000

$117,000

57%

Stockton,
CA

$225,000

643%

$700,000,000

$189,000

107%

Bremerton,
WA

$204,000

638%

$382,000,000

$159,000

62%

Nine of the 10 metros with the biggest median home equity growth in dollars are in California, led by San Francisco ($741,000), San Jose ($669,000) and San Rafael ($604,000). Seattle ($364,000), is the only non-California metro on the list.

Compared with the metros with the highest percent equity growth, these areas all started in 2012 with high home prices, and local homebuyers likely made much higher down payment--close to 20 percent. Since then, Coastal California and Seattle have seen enormous growth in home values, which equates to huge dollar gains in equity.

Top 10 metro areas with the biggest dollar home-equity growth, from 2012 to 2019

Metro
area

Median
Home
Equity
Growth

Median Home
Equity Percent
Growth

Total Equity
Growth

Median Home
Value Dollar
Growth

Median Home
Value Percent
Growth

San
Francisco,
CA

$741,000

329%

$6,410,000,000

$644,000

92%

San Jose,
CA

$669,000

360%

$7,610,000,000

$596,000

98%

San Rafael,
CA

$604,000

247%

$1,190,000,000

$495,000

71%

Oakland,
CA

$461,000

369%

$7,920,000,000

$406,000

92%

Seattle,
WA

$364,000

461%

$8,010,000,000

$313,000

88%

Santa Rosa,
CA

$350,000

318%

$1,200,000,000

$292,000

81%

Salinas,
CA

$322,000

322%

$656,000,000

$282,000

83%

Los
Angeles,
CA

$318,000

292%

$15,000,000,000

$265,000

67%

Anaheim,
CA

$311,000

219%

$6,290,000,000

$252,000

53%

Santa
Maria, CA

$297,000

230%

$593,000,000

$228,000

52%