Winners & Losers in Housing Crisis: See Where MA Ranks

Saturday, May 30, 2015
GoLocalWorcester News Team and FindtheBest

American homeowners are ready to see their homes be worth something again — at least as much as they paid for them. For many, home values dictate whether or not they are able to sell their home and recoup their investment. Because of stagnant home prices in many places, thousands of Americans who aren’t able to wait out the recession are selling their homes at a loss compared to their initial investment.

SEE BELOW: Where Does MA Rank in Housing Crisis?

It’s now been seven years since the start of the 2008 recession. To illustrate how home prices have changed since then, data researchers from FindTheHome have compiled data on home prices during their pre-recession peaks and compared them to what they’re worth today.

 

This graphic shows that home prices in Massachusetts are still 11.0% lower than their pre-recession highs in January 2006. Despite home prices not making a complete recovery, home prices in Massachusetts are projected to rise 5.3% over the next 12 months. For reference, national home prices are projected to rise 5.1% on average, leaving homeowners in Massachusetts hopeful that the price gap will shrink over the coming year.

The main takeaway from the data is that location really does matter, and each real estate market is recovering differently. For example, home prices in Arizona are 27.4% behind their June 2006 peak, but another state in the same region, Colorado, is experiencing home prices that are a 14.5% premium above its own previous high. Here are the 10 states that have recovered the most since the recession and the 10 states that still have a ways to go.

 

Note: trends.findthehome.com defined home price recovery as the percent change between the median home price during the month of each state’s pre-recession (2005-2009) peak and the median home price as of March 2015. States with positive percent differences are states where home prices have generally surpassed their pre-recession peaks. Conversely, states with negative percent differences are yet to reach median home prices that are as high as they once were.