Home sellers in 2017 got the highest return on their investment since before the housing crisis, according to a report from property database Attom Data Solutions.
Sellers gained an average of $54,000 on their home price for an average 29.7 percent return on investment, the report said. That’s the highest return on investment for sellers since the third quarter of 2007.
“It’s the most profitable time to sell a home in more than 10 years yet homeowners are staying put longer than we’ve ever seen,” Attom Data Solutions senior vice president Daren Blomquist said in a statement.
Distressed home sales, including bank-owned sales, third-party foreclosures and short sales, were down to 14 percent of single-family home sales from 15.5 percent the year before and a high of 38.6 percent in 2011. Distressed sales, however, rose in a few markets: Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio, Louisiana, New York and Washington, D.C.
Buyers using Federal Housing Administration loans made up 13.6 percent of single-family home purchases, down from 15.4 percent in 2016 but still above the 7 percent average that preceded the financial crisis.
All-cash purchases made up 29 percent of single-family home sales, up for the first time in four years and above the pre-2007 20.3 percent average.
The median home price for 2017 was $235,000, an all-time high. Home price appreciation, however, slowed slightly from 8.5 percent in 2016 to 8.3 percent last year.
California was home to three of the markets with highest return on investment for sellers: San Jose, San Francisco and Merced. Seattle also saw significant returns for sellers. Home prices appreciated the most over the past year in the metro areas of Ocala, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; San Jose, California; Salem, Oregon; and Nashville, Tennessee.
Sellers in 2017 had owned their homes for an average of 8.18 years — also a high.
“While home sellers on the West Coast are realizing the biggest profits, rapid home price appreciation in red state markets is rivaling that of the high-flying coastal markets and producing sizable profits for home sellers in those middle-American markets as well,” Blomquist said.