Today’s mortgage rates and home prices may have you second-guessing whether it's still a good idea to buy a home right now. While market factors are definitely important, there’s also a bigger picture to consider: the long-term benefits of homeownership.
Think of it this way. If you know people who bought a home 5, 10, or even 30 years ago, you’re probably going to have a hard time finding someone who regrets their decision. That’s because over time, home values usually grow – and that means a homeowner’s net worth does too. Here's a look at how that can really add up over the years.
Home Price Growth over Time
The map below uses data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to show how much prices have grown over the last five years. Since home prices vary by area, the map is broken out regionally to really showcase larger market trends:
You can see that nationally, home prices increased by over 57% in just five years.
Some regions are slightly above or below that average, but overall, home prices saw a big uptick in a short time. And if you zoom out even more, the benefit of homeownership — and the drastic gains homeowners made over the years — become even more clear (see map below):
The second map shows that, over a roughly 30-year span, home prices appreciated by an average of more than 320% nationally.
So the typical homeowner who bought a house about 30 years ago saw their home triple in value during that time. And that’s a major reason so many homeowners who bought their homes years ago are still happy with their decision today.