US Home Values Drop to $45.3T as Housing Affordability Wanes
By The total value of U.S. homes fell to $45.3 trillion at the end of 2022, a decline of $2.3 trillion—the largest June-to-December drop in percentage terms since the 2008 housing crisis.[0] This decline in home values reflects slower homebuyer demand in large part because the rapid rise in mortgage rates had pushed housing affordability down to historically low levels.[1]
Investors purchased approximately $31 billion worth of properties—equivalent to 48,445 homes—nationwide in the last three months of 2022, representing a substantial decline from the $54 billion in purchases from the same period a year prior.[2] Almost half of the Opportunity Zones around the country experienced a decrease in median single-family home and condo prices of at least 5 percent from the third quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2022, with 56 percent showing an overall decrease.[3]
San Francisco was hit the hardest by the housing market downturn, as the city's overall home value fell 6.7% in December from the year prior, the largest decrease among all U.S. metropolitan areas. This resulted in a total value of $517.5B.[4] The total value of homes in Miami rose 19.7% year over year to $468.5 billion in December—the largest annual increase in percentage terms.[5]
In December, 16% of home sales were financed via FHA loans – the highest figure since the start of the pandemic. An estimated 15.6% of residential mortgage sales in the US utilized FHA loans, an increase from 12.5% the year prior. This is the highest percentage since May 2020.
Roughly one-third (31.2%) of U.S. home purchases were paid for with all cash in December, according to a new report from Redfin.[6] The figure of 28.8% from the previous year has increased, though lower than the 8-year peak of 31.9% reached in November.[7]
In the fourth quarter, investor purchases of single-family homes decreased by an unprecedented 49.8% compared to the same period the year before–a bigger drop than any other real estate category.[8] But rates and monthly mortgage payments have declined from the apex they reached in November, which helps explain why the portion of home purchases made in cash peaked that month, too.[9]
0. “US housing market sees $2.3T drop in value, biggest since 2008” Fox Business, 23 Feb. 2023, https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-housing-market-sees-drop-value-biggest-2008
1. “U.S. home values slump by $2.3T since June peak, Redfin says (NASDAQ:RDFN)” Seeking Alpha, 22 Feb. 2023, https://seekingalpha.com/news/3939136-us-home-values-slump-by-23t-since-june-peak-redfin-says
2. “Homebuyers could win as real-estate investors flee once-hot US cities” Business Insider, 23 Feb. 2023, https://www.businessinsider.com/homebuyers-win-real-estate-investors-flee-hottest-housing-markets-2023-2
3. “HOME PRICES IN OPPORTUNITY ZONE REDEVELOPMENT AREAS FALL DURING FOURTH QUARTER” PR Newswire, 16 Feb. 2023, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/home-prices-in-opportunity-zone-redevelopment-areas-fall-during-fourth-quarter-301748422.html
4. “U.S. Homeowners Have Collectively Lost $2.3 Trillion in Property Value Since the Summer” Mansion Global, 22 Feb. 2023, https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/u-s-homeowners-have-collectively-lost-2-3-trillion-in-property-value-since-the-summer-81f3ab46
5. “Where home prices in the US are falling and rising the most” Quartz, 23 Feb. 2023, https://qz.com/home-prices-us-falling-bay-area-florida-rising-1850148821
6. “Where Cash Is King: 10 Cities With the Highest Share of All-Cash Home Sales” Money, 17 Feb. 2023, https://money.com/cities-most-cash-home-sales
7. “Suburban Housing Markets Faring Better Than Cities” DSNews.com, 22 Feb. 2023, https://dsnews.com/news/02-22-2023/suburban-housing-markets
8. “Investors Purchases of Single-Family Homes Drops By Almost Half” Route Fifty, 17 Feb. 2023, https://www.route-fifty.com/infrastructure/2023/02/investors-purchases-single-family-homes-drops-almost-half/383128/
9. “Redfin Reports Share of Homes Bought With Cash Ticks Down From November Peak” Business Wire, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230215005284/en/Redfin-Reports-Share-of-Homes-Bought-With-Cash-Ticks-Down-From-November-Peak
