June 7 (UPI) — The values of homes in the United States have collectively increased by more than $1 trillion over the past year, real estate analytics firm CoreLogic said in a report Thursday.
The report shows home equities rose more than 13 percent nationally — equal to $1.01 trillion — since the first quarter of 2017.
The report projects home prices will increase 5.3 percent by next April.
“Home equity balances continue to grow across the nation,” said CoreLogic CEO Frank Martell. “In the far Western states, equity gains are fueled by a long run in home price escalation. With strong economic growth and higher purchase demand, we expect these trends to continue for the foreseeable future.”
Analysts said 84,000 properties regained equity in the first quarter and the average homeowner gained $16,300 in equity over the past year.
The report noted, though, about 2.5 million homes still have negative equity, but those numbers would be cut by 500,000 if home values gain another 5 percent.
Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance poll found 64 percent of Americans expect housing prices to keep rising — marking a 9 percent increase in optimism over the past two years and the highest expectations since 2005.
In March, CoreLogic said U.S. home prices saw the largest year-to-year increase since 2014.
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