Zillow reports [1] that the total value of homes in the U.S. is $33.6 trillion—an increase of $11.3 trillion since 2010 and nearly as much as the GDP of the U.S. ($20.5 trillion) and China ($13.6 trillion).
The housing market was in the midst of the Great Recession in 2010, and of the $11.3 trillion increase during that span, 14% was from new stock entering the market.
California makes up the highest share of the nation’s housing value at 21.2% and 12% of its population. Texas is the next most populated state at 8.8% but accounts for just 5.9% of housing value.
The home values of New York ($2.7 trillion); Florida ($2 trillion); Texas ($2 trillion); and Washington ($1 trillion) combined to exceed California’s $7.1 trillion in home value.
North Dakota and Wyoming have the smallest share of the nation’s housing market at $66 billion each.
Locally, three metros reached the trillion-dollar mark—New York ($3.2 trillion); Los Angeles ($2.5 trillion); and San Francisco ($1.6 trillion). Los Angeles was the only market to add more than a trillion dollars of housing during the decade, gaining $1.1 trillion.
California was home to three of the five metros that gained the most value: San Francisco ($827 billion); New York ($657 billion); San Jose, California ($360 billion); and Seattle, Washington ($356 billion).
Housing values in the Golden State took a negative turn at the end of the decade, with annual appreciation slowing to less than 2% compared to the more than 20% at the beginning of the decade.
The debate about whether the U.S. economy is heading for another recession continued at the end of 2019. Analysis from Quartz [2]said the answer to that is, “of course.”
Quartz’s analysis said knowing when a pending recession could occur is nearly impossible.
The good news is that no telltale signs of an upcoming economic apocalypse are currently rearing their ugly heads, but the bad news is that it doesn’t necessarily mean that one won’t emerge to shake us to the core once more. For this reason, the best thing we can do is simply try the best to prepare ourselves by being aware of what causes a recession and being ready as we can be once those signs begin to appear.