Presidents Ranked by Housing Stats

To celebrate President's Day, the National Association of Realtors^® has produced some data showing the national median single-family home price at the time each president was sworn in since 1969.

There have been nine U.S. presidents since the NAR began its comprehensive reporting of home sales data in 1968. The country and the typical cost to buy a home have changed a lot.

• Richard Nixon: 1969 - $137,988; 1973 - $156,221
• Gerald Ford: August 1974 – $160,166
• Jimmy Carter: 1977 - $156,836
• Ronald Reagan: 1981 - $170,302; 1985 - $164,614
• George H.W. Bush: 1989 - $174.779
• Bill Clinton: 1993 - $170,911; 1997 - $184,528
• George W. Bush: 2001 - $195,014; 2005 - $239, 761
• Barack Obama: 2009 - $183,693; 2013 - $176,278
• Donald Trump: 2017 - $234,900

Despite an overall upward trend, there have been some dips in median home prices through the years. The data team at The Economist said, “What a difference a decade makes. In 2006 house prices in America hit an all-time high, after rising unabated for the previous 10 years. The crash that followed brought the entire global financial system to its knees.” On the other hand, they point out that today’s American home prices have recovered nearly all their losses from the 2006 crash, but when adjusted for inflation they are still 20 percent below the 2006 peak.

Although the residential real estate market is looking good, some ask if another correction could be on the horizon? To gauge the stability of America’s housing market, The Economist looks at two measures of affordability: the ratio of price to income and price to rent.

Encouragingly, they said that across America prices appear to be at fair value when compared to their long-run averages. Yet in some cities, such as San Francisco, affordability looks stretched when compared against income. Prices in the City by the Bay are 40 percent above their long-run average when compared to income. Theory suggests that they should eventually fall back down to earth.

In predicting the continuing stability of the U.S. residential real estate market, opinions vary just about as much as they do in predicting what the government will do concerning real estate and lending regulations.