According to a new report by Zillow, homeowners in the United States earned a collective $1.7 trillion in additional equity in 2014.
The gains came even despite the fact that home prices slowed down dramatically over the past year.
The report also noted that some homeowners tapped into the new equity already, nearly immediately taking out the money.
Image via flickr/Lending Memo
On Tuesday, Congress elected to extend several expired “temporary” tax breaks for 2014, and included in there are a couple of deductions for select homeowners.
First, homeowners paying mortgage insurance premiums will be able to deduct he cost of the their premiums if they itemize their deductions. And anyone who has foreclosed on a home or sold their home for less than the amount still owed to the bank and had their remaining debt forgiven, the IRS will allow you to exclude that amount from your income.
The bill is now in the hands of President Barack Obama, and according to CNN Money, he is expected to sign it.
Image via flickr/John Morgan
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The to do list:
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The Federal Housing Administration revealed on Monday that it is back in the black.
“FHA has taken several prudent actions to improve the fiscal health of the fund, and those actions have led to the stronger position that we’re in today,” Julian Castro, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development told reporters.
Just two years ago, in 2012, the FHA’s insurance fund had been more than $16 billion in the negative.
Image via flickr/Robert Huffstutter
In the second quarter of 2012, as many as 950,000 homes saw a positive equity gain.
This puts homeowner equity $1 trillion ahead of where it was at this time last year.
“Many homeowners across the country are seeing the equity value in their homes grow, which lifts the economy as a whole,” Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, told Mortgage News Daily. “With more and more borrowers regaining equity, we expect homeownership to become an increasingly attractive option for many who have remained on the sidelines in the aftermath of the great recession. This should provide more opportunities for people to sell their homes, purchase a different home or refinance an existing mortgage.”
Image via flickr/Simon Cunningham
As the second quarter of 2014 comes to an end, homeownership is at a 19-year low, falling to 64.8 percent. That is down .1 percent from the first quarter of this year, and .3 points lower than it was this time last year.
Homeownership was at its highest most recently in 2004, when it peaked at 69.4 percent.
Image via Wikimedia Commons/SanjibLemar
“Think you can’t buy a home? Think again.
In November 2013, Trulia surveyed renters who want to buy a home, asking about the obstacles that hindered their goal. The survey respondents cited several barriers to buying a home, all of which are listed below.
Let’s explore these obstacles to homeownership, and look at how you can overcome each of them…”
Image by MrHarman via Wikimedia Commons.