The Washington metropolitan region accounts for $1.14 trillion of the nation’s $52 trillion in residential real estate valuation, according to new data, and the local region has seen an increase of $25 billion in value (+3.2%) since June 2022.
Washington ranks sixth nationally in total housing valuation, being edged out of the top five in the new data by the fast growth in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.
That’s according to new data from Zillow.
The four most valuable metro areas have remained largely unchanged over the past five years: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. Rounding out the top 10 after Washington were the metro areas of Chicago, Seattle, San Diego and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Of the six markets in which housing has gained the most value since the start of the pandemic, four are in Florida: Tampa (+88.9%), Miami (+86.6%), Jacksonville (+82.4%) and Orlando (+72.3%). It’s not surprising, then, that Florida has surpassed New York as the state with the second-most-valuable housing market.
California remains a behemoth with more than $10 trillion of value in its housing market; that’s nearly 20 percent of the national total. Florida, New York, Texas and New Jersey round out the top five, with Florida having supplanted New York in the No. 2 spot.
Large population growth is one reason for strong new construction figures in Florida, and the increased competition for existing homes has also helped raise home values.
Nationally among the states, Virginia 10th with a total housing valuation of $1.38 trillion, up 6 percent (or $78.8 billion) from the summer of 2022.
While a small chunk of the overall national growth in housing valuation can be attributed to a 0.7-percent rise in the average value of a U.S. home during this period, the powerhouse behind this surge has been new construction, said Zillow in reporting the data.
“A steady flow of new homes hit the market this spring and summer, helping chip away at the deep inventory deficit and boosting the total value of the market,” said Orphe Divounguy, a Zillow senior economist. “Despite the presence of higher mortgage rates, which deterred some home shoppers and kept many existing homeowners on the sidelines, enough buyers remained to keep the market moving. Builders recognized the unmet demand and responded by starting more projects.”
Since the market peak of summer-2022, California has lost $344.4 billion in housing value, or 3.3 percent. Washington state has dropped $70 billion, down 3.9 percent. New York was down $9 billion, off 0.2 percent.
