The value of homes in the United States has increased by 4.1 percent and is expected to end the year at $28.5 trillion total.
The total value of all homes has regained $5.3 trillion since hitting its lowest point during the housing bust in December 2011, but is still $782 billion below when the bubble hit the highest point value of $29.2 trillion in October 2006. The dollar amount itself gives emphasis to the significance of housing to the U.S. economy. In the third quarter of 2015, the U.S. gross domestic product was $18.1 trillion, $10 trillion less than the total value of the housing stock.
"This reminds us of the large role housing plays in the overall economy," said Zillow® Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. "Total home value growth slowed this year, but there was still a significant increase in overall value, and many markets are more valuable than they've ever been. At the same time, more renter households and rising rents combined to set new records in rental spending in 2015. Americans are spending a lot of money on housing, and that will make affordability an important issue next year."
According to the press release of Zillow in PR News Wire, housing value isn't distributed equally across the country. California is home to about 12 percent of the U.S. populationii, but the state accounts for nearly a quarter of the country's total home value, driven by highly valued markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Meanwhile, the Zillow Real Estate and Rental Data shows that US renters have spend $20 billion more in rent in 2015 than in 2014. A total of $535 billion was spent on rent in 2015 much higher compared t the $516 billion that was spent on rent last year.
Renters of single-family homes and apartments spent approximately the same amount on rent this year with $245 billion and $239 billion respectively.
Renters in the New York/Northern New Jersey metro area spent the most on rent in 2015 - about $56 billion. Los Angeles-area renters spent nearly $35 billion, and San-Francisco renters spent $17 billion. About two-thirds of the total rent paid in 2015 was spent in the 50 largest metros.
