Bloomberg writer Alexandre Tanzi reported this week that, “National home values have increased 8.7 percent since last April to a median value of $215,600, according to Zillow.
“Newly released data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency confirm the widespread gains seen by Zillow as home prices rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the first quarter of 2018 compared to a year earlier. The FHFA report shows first-quarter home prices rose 6.9 percent from a year earlier. Annual appreciation surpassed 10 percent in Nevada (13.7 percent), Washington (13.1 percent), Idaho (11.1 percent), Colorado (10.6 percent).
“The rise in home prices has allowed more people to take cash-out of the homes when they refinance. Refinancing, where the home owner took additional cash out, rose to 61 percent in the first quarter — the highest rate seen since the third quarter of 2008, according to FHFA data.”
The Bloomberg article added that, “The pace of appreciation seen by Zillow is the fastest since June 2006, when home values were rising nine percent annually.”
