Single-family homes had their biggest price increase on record in the first quarter of this year. With many analysts noting the real estate market is “white hot”, it might be helpful to look at a relative comparison of real estate to the other main source of U.S. homeowner wealth - the stock market. The following graph from analytics firm Visual Capitalist shows the total return since 1990 of the U.S. National Home Price Index compared to the benchmark S&P 500 stock market index. The Home Price Index has gone up a respectable 200% since 1990, but looks quite tame compared to the 1000% return from the S&P 500 over the same period.
Jeffrey Cerny