Will My Home Appreciate Each Year? | Quicken Loans (2024)

With many consumer goods, their value starts to lessen, or depreciate, once they’re no longer brand new. Real estate, however, tends to appreciate, or increase in value over time.

This is typically what most buyers hope for when they purchase a home. But home appreciation isn’t a given; it depends on a variety of different factors, including the real estate market in your area, larger economic trends and how well you take care of your home.

It’s the question every homeowner wants an answer to: Will my home appreciate? Let’s take a look at what homeowners need to know about home value appreciation.

What Is Home Value Appreciation?

Home values aren’t fixed; they can move up and down based on supply and demand. The trend of home values increasing over time is known as appreciation.

Home value appreciation is driven by many different factors, many of which are out of your control.

In general, home values tend to appreciate, allowing you to build vital equity in your home, which is important if you ever plan to sell or do a cash-out refinance. But keep in mind that appreciation isn’t a given, and it can be hard to predict whether a given house will increase significantly in value over time.

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How Much Will My Home Appreciate?

If you check out the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) appreciation map, you’ll see that the rate of appreciation can vary quite a bit from state to state, and even among different metro areas.

Some of the factors that can impact appreciation include:

  • Local market conditions (such as housing supply, the number of prospective buyers in a given area, etc.)
  • School district
  • Value of the land the home sits on
  • Market value of nearby homes
  • Location
  • Age and condition of the home, including any upgrades or additions made
  • Larger economic trends

It’s possible to increase your home’s value by making renovations or completing other home improvement projects. Conversely, you can also drag your home’s value down by failing to keep up with maintenance or not making necessary updates, such as replacing your old roof or HVAC system.

Much of the rest of it is out of your hands. Things like neighborhood trends, nearby school systems, local housing supply and the strength of the national economy will affect the value of your home.

What does this look like in practice? Let’s take a look at what the average rate of appreciation has looked like through the years, according to the FHFA.

Time Period

Rate Of Appreciation

Q3 2020

3.09%

1 year (including the previous 4 quarters)

7.81%

Previous 5 years

35.35%

Since Q1 1991

193.23%

That’s a lot of growth, but remember that these are just averages, not the full picture. Say, for example, you were looking to sell your house at the end of 2008, right in the middle of the Great Recession. Though we’d experienced pretty steady home value growth in the years leading up to the recession, that year saw home prices depreciate by 10.54%.

Basically, your home’s value is dependent on what prospective buyers are willing to pay for it. This number will fluctuate depending on buyers’ need for housing, their interest in your particular house (or city, neighborhood or school district) and their ability to afford homes like yours.

What Brings Down Property Value?

Many of the same factors that can increase your home’s value can also cause it to decrease. Poor market conditions, a bad location, unsightly upgrades and not staying on top of regular maintenance can all hurt your property’s value.

Your neighbors can also have a big impact on your home’s value. From noisy pets to cluttered yards to foreclosures, issues with one home can often impact all the homes in a neighborhood.

How To Find A Home That Will Appreciate

When searching for a home, the most important thing is that you find a house that suits your needs. However, it’s not uncommon for buyers to also consider a home’s potential resale value as they house hunt.

After all, a home is a big investment, and if you don’t plan on staying in the same place for the rest of your life, you want to be confident that you’ll be able to successfully sell the home when you’re ready to.

Here are some features that home buyers commonly look for, which can translate to value appreciation for you.

Location

There are many ways in which a home’s location can impact its value. Being located on a main road with lots of traffic is typically bad for home values, while being located within a subdivision with little traffic has a positive effect on values.

Additionally, the school district your home is located in can have a huge impact on your home’s value. Homes in good school districts come at a premium, even for those who don’t have children.

Being located near undesirable features, such as a landfill or noisy train tracks, can also drag values down.

Condition

If you let your home slowly fall into disrepair, you’ll likely have a hard time holding onto value.

Maintaining your home and making necessary repairs and updates is not only vital to keeping a happy and healthy home for yourself; it can also help to ensure that your home grows in value over time.

Renovations

Renovations can be a great way to make your home more valuable to buyers. However, it’s important to think about which renovations are highly sought-after in your real estate market, as some will be more valuable than others.

Big projects such as kitchen remodels or deck additions are popular upgrades, but less obvious renovations, such as installing energy efficient windows or a brand new HVAC system, can boost value as well.

Curb Appeal

The first view potential buyers will have of your home is what they can see when they pull up to the curb, so it’s important to make that first impression count.

Homes with strong curb appeal attract buyers and boost value. Fortunately, this is an aspect that can often be easily improved upon – think landscaping, a fresh coat of paint, exterior lighting and the like.

Check out the Rocket Mortgage®Learning Center for more information on home buying.

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Will My Home Appreciate Each Year? | Quicken Loans (2024)

FAQs

Will My Home Appreciate Each Year? | Quicken Loans? ›

In general, home values tend to appreciate, allowing you to build vital equity in your home, which is important if you ever plan to sell or do a cash-out refinance. But keep in mind that appreciation isn't a given, and it can be hard to predict whether a given house will increase significantly in value over time.

How much does my house appreciate each year? ›

Specific data may vary by location, but on a national level, the FHFA reported an average annual home price appreciation rate of approximately 5% during this 5-year period.

How do you know if your home will increase in value? ›

Location, neighborhood, home size and usable space, age and condition, and general economic indicators all play a role in your home's appreciation.

What is the average increase in the price of the house per year? ›

According to a recent release from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) at the end of August 2023, house prices experienced an appreciation of 4% over the last year. Additionally, per Case-Shiller, the historical annual average national appreciation rate since 1987 through July 2023 is 4.8%.

What is the formula for appreciation in real estate? ›

To calculate the appreciation percentage, we divide the change in home value ($25,000) by the original home value ($200,000), which equals 0.125. By multiplying 0.125 by 100, we can determine that the home's value has appreciated by 12.5%.

Do houses ever depreciate? ›

Many first-time home buyers believe the physical characteristics of a house will lead to increased property value. But in reality, a property's physical structure tends to depreciate over time, while the land it sits on typically appreciates in value.

Will my house increase in value in 10 years? ›

This is a subjective question that will depend on the individual real estate investor. Generally speaking, the higher the appreciation rate the better. In America, home appreciation rates range from 2-6% when looking at the real estate market over a period of 10 years or longer.

How much will my house be worth in 5 years? ›

Based on historical averages of 3.5% of home value growth per year, property prices will rise a total of about 18 to 20% in 5 years. The math is simple: 3.5% a year for 5 years, compounding annually. The key is to do the math as compounding because your home value will continue to build.

What is the #1 thing that determines the value of a home? ›

Location is the cornerstone to a home's value. You can modify a house to fit your needs, but the location will always stay the same. The location of a home and its proximity to desired resources are often the most important deciding factor for a buyer.

Do houses gain value over time? ›

Key Takeaways. Home values tend to rise over time, but recessions and other disasters can lead to lower prices. Following slumps, home values can increase in some areas of the country because of strong demand and low supply, while other areas struggle to rebound.

Do homes always appreciate? ›

In general, home values tend to appreciate, allowing you to build vital equity in your home, which is important if you ever plan to sell or do a cash-out refinance. But keep in mind that appreciation isn't a given, and it can be hard to predict whether a given house will increase significantly in value over time.

Will inflation cause a housing crash? ›

Generally, homeowners, especially those with mortgages, benefit from inflation. The value of homes tends to increase faster than inflation, so their investment does not lose value.

How big was the average house in 1900? ›

In 1900, for instance, a typical American new home contained 700 to 1,200 square feet of living space, including two or three bedrooms and one or (just about as likely) no bathrooms. It was probably a two-story floor plan.

How much does a house appreciate over 30 years? ›

The average rate of appreciation for a house over 30 years also varies by region and time period. For example, according to Black Knight's report, the national appreciation rate was 3.8% per year in 2019, slightly less than the 25-year average of 3.9%.

What is the golden formula in real estate? ›

In case you haven't heard of the so-called Golden Rule in house flipping, the 70% Rule states that your offer on a property should be no greater than 70% of the After Repair Value (ARV) minus the estimated repairs.

How to calculate future house appreciation? ›

We can estimate appreciation by using the future value formula of FV = I * [(1 + R)T], where I is the initial value, R is the expected appreciation rate, and T is the number of years.

What decreases the value of a home? ›

Sometimes lower property values are due to factors with your property, such as neglected maintenance, outdated kitchens, or patchy home improvement projects.

At what age does a house start losing value? ›

However, after 30 years, the depreciation rate increases significantly when the age is measured with the effective age. For a property built more than 30 years ago with an effective age of 1 year, its value will increase over a few years and decrease around an effective age of 15.

How do I know if my house will appreciate? ›

Whether your home will appreciate over time is mostly out of your control. Some unexpected things that could raise the value of your home: new schools in the neighborhood, job growth in your area, more household formation (aka demand for homes), an influx of investors and new residents, gentrification, etc.

At what rate do most houses appreciate? ›

Historically speaking, homes in the U.S. generally only appreciate by 2–3% per year on average.

How much will my house be worth in 2030? ›

The Average US Home Could be Worth $382,000 by 2030

House prices in the US have risen by 48.55% in the last ten years (from $173k to $257k) and if they continue to grow at this rate for another decade, the average US home will be worth $382k by 2030.

How to calculate what your home is worth? ›

  1. Use online valuation tools.
  2. Use the FHFA House Price Index Calculator.
  3. Get a comparative market analysis.
  4. Hire a professional appraiser.
  5. Evaluate comparable properties.
Nov 15, 2023

What actually increases property value? ›

Upgrades and updates

The most likely reason is that the home has been upgraded. Homes that have been upgraded with modern features or layouts attract more homebuyers and higher offers. Some remodeling projects that typically boost value and recoup project costs, include: Landscaping.

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