Many LA homes have regained value
Zillow reports that there is no nationwide housing bubble, or subsequent bust, to be concerned with
Nearly four in ten homes, 37.9 percent, in Greater Los Angeles are now worth more than they were at the peak of the real estate bubble.
That put Los Angeles in the middle of the pack, ranking 19th among the largest 41 markets in the United States.
The finding is based on research conducted by Zillow, the Seattlebased online real estate and rental market.
Nationally, almost half (48.9 percent) of all homes nationwide are worth as much or more than they were in April 2007, just before the national market turned south heading into what became the Great Recession.
San Jose is one of seven metro areas showing the strongest recovery, with more than 90 percent of homes have exceeded their pre-recession peak values.
The vast majority of homes there and in Denver, Dallas, Nashville, Portland, Ore., and Raleigh, N.C., are now worth more than they were roughly a decade ago.
At the other end of the scale, less than one percent of homes in Las Vegas are back at their pre-recession peak, reflecting how inflated housing prices were before the bubble burst.
Riverside, where just 2.9 percent of homes have bounced back from prior peaks, is among other markets where values remain lower almost across the board. Other lagging markets include Orlando, (3.5 percent); Hartford, Conn. (4.5 percent); and Phoenix (5.1 percent).
The findings are based on Zillow’s estimated market value, which it calls a Zestimate, computed using a proprietary formula. The company has data on 100 million homes, and its estimates have a median error rate of 4.3 percent. This means half of the home values in the area are closer than the error percentage.
Other findings from Zillow’s analysis of prerecession home prices compared to a decade later include:
• There is no nationwide housing bubble, or subsequent bust, to be overly concerned with, though some regional housing markets and some market sub-segments are clearly exposed to more risk than others.
• It is wise to be cautious but there is clearly home buying demand that is currently going unmet, particularly at affordable price points.
• Though the economic climate can always shift – sometimes suddenly – a national recession is not imminent on the near horizon.