$\"Why$ \n

If you\u2019ve seen headlines about home prices dropping, it\u2019s easy to wonder what that means for the value of your home too. Here\u2019s what you really need to know.<\/p>\n

Even with small price declines in some markets, <\/strong>data shows you\u2019re likely still way ahead. <\/em>And that\u2019s thanks to your home equity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Relationship Between Home Prices and Equity<\/strong><\/h4>\nHome equity moves in sync with home prices<\/a>. When prices rise, equity builds. When prices cool (even just slightly), equity growth does too. Here\u2019s how that\u2019s played out lately.<\/p>\n
After the record-setting home price surge of 2020 and 2021, a little cooling was inevitable.<\/p>\n
Back then, the number of homes for sale hit a record low. That caused home values (and your equity) to shoot up significantly as buyers fought over limited inventory.<\/p>\n
But prices couldn\u2019t continue to rise at that intense pace forever. The market had to moderate at some point, and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re seeing right now.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
As more homes have come on the market this year, price growth slowed<\/a> \u2013 so, equity gains did too. And that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ve lost ground.<\/p>\n
Putting it into Perspective<\/strong><\/h4>\n
You probably still have far more equity than you did just a few years ago.<\/strong> And that puts you in a strong position if you want to sell. Here\u2019s the data to prove it.<\/p>\n
According to research from Zillow<\/em>, home prices have risen a staggering 45% nationwide since March of 2020.<\/strong> That\u2019s a big jump.<\/p>\n
And in the majority of markets, prices are still rising, just at a much slower pace. But even in the metros<\/a> where prices are experiencing the biggest declines (the ones making the headlines), the average drop is only about -4%.<\/p>\n
So, what\u2019s that really mean? In most places, prices are on the rise, so this isn\u2019t even a concern. But in the few metros where prices are cooling off a bit, the 5-year gains more than offset those small dips.<\/strong><\/p>\n
$\"a$ <\/a>In other words, these modest declines can\u2019t erase years of growth.<\/strong> Homeowners who\u2019ve been in their houses for several years are still way ahead<\/em>. Big time. And that\u2019s true pretty much everywhere.<\/p>\n
Data<\/a> from the Federal Housing Finance Agency<\/em> (FHFA) helps paint this picture. Let\u2019s cast a slightly wider net and look at a state-by-state level this time. Every single state has seen prices go up over the last 5 years. And that means homeowners in each state have much more equity than they did just 5 years ago (see graph below<\/em>):<\/p>\n
$\"a$ <\/a>Odds are, in most places, if you\u2019ve owned your home for more than a few years, you\u2019ve already built the kind of equity many people could only dream about before the pandemic. And if you sell, you can use it to help you downsize<\/a>, or move up.<\/p>\n
And just in case you\u2019re worried prices will crash and your equity will take a bigger hit in the near future, here\u2019s what Jake Krimmel, Senior Economist at Realtor.com<\/em>, has to say:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe slight recent declines in aggregate value and total home equity are not cause for concern . . . Although the market is coming into better balance, large price declines nationally are extremely unlikely in the near term . . .\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The price moderation we\u2019ve seen lately isn\u2019t a cause for concern. It\u2019s a signal of a market that\u2019s finding its balance again after several years of unsustainable price growth. And after several years of major price appreciation, most homeowners are still in an incredibly strong position.<\/p>\n
Bottom Line<\/h3>\n
Even with prices coming down in some markets, today\u2019s homeowners are still sitting on near record amounts of equity.<\/strong><\/p>\n
If you\u2019re wondering how much equity you have (or how far ahead you really are), connect with a local agent.<\/p>\n
You might be surprised by what your home is actually worth today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019ve seen headlines about home prices dropping, it\u2019s easy to wonder what that means for the value of your home too. Here\u2019s what you really need to know. Even with small price declines in some markets, data shows you\u2019re likely still way ahead. And that\u2019s thanks to your home equity. The Relationship Between Home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6069,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[29,27,20,18,28],"class_list":["post-6068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-insight","tag-idaho-real-estate","tag-north-idaho-homes","tag-rain-silverhawk","tag-real-estate","tag-sandpoint-idaho"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251105-Blog-Header-Image-original.png?fit=750%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdz2Zu-1zS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}