• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Live the Flagstaff Life

Live the Flagstaff Life

Flagstaff Lifestyle and Real Estate

  • Home
  • Search Homes For Sale
  • Guides
    • Buyer’s Guide
    • Relocation Guide
    • Request a Seller’s Guide
  • Blog
  • Vacation Rental Management
  • About Us
    • An Interview With Katannya
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
You are here: Home / Real Estate / Homeownership Is a Key to Building Wealth

Homeownership Is a Key to Building Wealth

November 10, 2020 by Katannya Hartwell Leave a Comment

Share
Share
Pin
Email
More

For years, real estate has been considered the best investment you can make. A major reason for this is due to the net worth a household gains through homeownership. In fact, according to the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finance Data from the Federal Reserve, for the average homeowner:

“…a primary home accounts for 90% of the total wealth of a family in the U.S.”

How do homeowners gain wealth?

Most large purchases, like cars and appliances, depreciate in value as they age, so it’s understandable to question how owning a home can increase wealth over time. In a simple equation, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) explains how the combination of paying your mortgage and home price appreciation grow overall wealth:

Principal Payments + Price Appreciation Gains = Housing Wealth Gain

As home values increase and you make payments toward your home loan, you’ll gain wealth through equity. The same article from NAR also addresses how wealth gains tend to play out over time:

“Housing wealth accumulation takes time and is built up by paying off the mortgage debt and by price appreciation. And while home prices can fall, home prices tend to recover and go up over the longer term. As of September 2020, the median sales price of existing home sales was $311,800, a 35% gain since July 2006 when prices peaked at $230,000.”

Taking a look at how equity has grown for the typical homeowner, it’s clear to see how real estate is a sound long-term investment. NAR notes:

“Nationally, a person who purchased a typical home 30 years ago would have typically gained about $283,000 as of the second quarter of 2020.” (See graph below):

Homeownership Is a Key to Building Wealth | Simplifying The Market

Bottom Line

Whether you’re a current homeowner planning to put your equity toward a new home or have hopes of buying your first home soon, homeownership will always be a great opportunity to build your net worth and overall wealth. Owning a home is truly an investment in your financial future.

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: Flagstaff Az Realtor, Flagstaff Realtor, Real Estate in Flagstaff Arizona, Real Estate in Flagstaff Az

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

sellers see what I do differently

buyers search homes in flagstaff!
  • Ponderosa Trails
  • Flagstaff Golf Communities

Copyright © 2025 · by Katannya Hartwell, Realtor® · Log in

eXp Realty | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions

exp logo, fair housing, multiple listing service, relator logo