If you’re thinking about selling your Triangle Area home, you may be considering several factors, especially with today’s housing affordability challenges. One way to make your decision easier is to understand the amount of home equity you’ve accumulated over the years. Here are two main factors that significantly impact your equity.
How Long You’ve Owned Your Home
One key factor in building home equity is homeowner tenure, or how long you’ve stayed in your Raleigh home before selling or moving. From 1985 to 2009, homeowners typically stayed in their homes for about six years.
However, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average tenure has now increased to 10 years (see graph below):
This is important because as you make mortgage payments and as home values rise, your equity grows. So, if you’ve owned your Triangle Area home for a decade or more, you could be sitting on substantial home equity.
How Home Prices Appreciate Over Time
Another major factor in building equity is home price appreciation. Data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) helps illustrate this (see graph below):
Here’s how it impacts you: While appreciation rates differ by region, a typical homeowner who has owned their home for five years has seen an increase in value by nearly 60%. If you’ve owned your Raleigh home for 30 years, it could be worth over three times what you originally paid. This accumulated equity can provide you with financial flexibility, whether you want to downsize, relocate, or move closer to loved ones.
Bottom Line
If you’re curious about the amount of home equity you’ve built and how it can help you buy your next Triangle Area home, contact Linda Craft Team Realtors to explore your options.