Owning Still Trumps Renting in Overall Wealth
The
recent housing crisis has prompted questions over whether home ownership is
still a viable way toward greater wealth in this country. Confidence in home
ownership was shaken, and many have had to turn to renting (the number of
renters has increased nearly 25 percent since the housing crisis). The home
ownership rate, in turn, has fallen from a peak of nearly 70 percent in 2004 to
a two-decade low of 64.3 percent more recently.
Still,
researchers continue to find evidence that home ownership contributes to
individual wealth. One example: The Center for Responsible Lending of Federal
Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances recently found that median net
worth of home owners in 2013 was $195,400, while at the same time the median
net worth for renters was only $5,400.
“Home
ownership long has been central to Americans’ ability to amass wealth; even
with the substantial decline in wealth after the housing bust, the net worth of
home owners over time has significantly outpaced that of renters, who tend as a
group to accumulate little if any wealth,” according to a recent editorial in
The New York Times.
The
forced savings involved in home ownership is one big way home owners gather
more wealth than renters. Home ownership requires buyers to save for a down
payment and then, as owners, continue to save by paying down a portion of their
mortgage principal each month. Renters could invest an amount equal to a down
payment plus any savings from renting but most do not.
“Most
obviously, owners can accrue substantial wealth through appreciation in home
prices, as evidenced by the outsized gains realized among those who first
became owners in the 2003 and 2005 … as home prices took off,” the researchers
note. “But fluctuations in home prices are a two-edged sword and a significant
share of these gains were subsequently lost when the bottom fell out of the
market.”
As
such, researchers point out that the other mechanism by which owning is
associated with increases in wealth is through the large increase in savings
that occur when households make the move to owning. For example, those who
first bought between 2007 and 2009, despite the ailing housing market, posted
gains in net worth of $18,000 – more than triple the amount they held before
purchasing a home, researchers found.
“We
find that while there is no doubt that home ownership entails real financial
risks, there continues to be strong support for the association between owning
a home and accumulating wealth,” researchers note. “This relationship held even
during the tumultuous period from 1999 to 2009, under less than ideal
conditions. Importantly, while home ownership is associated with somewhat lower
gains in wealth among minorities and lower-income households, these gains are
on average still positive and substantial.”
Provided by the Daily Real Estate News
Provided by the Daily Real Estate News
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