Housing Wealth Transfer

We are +14% above the 2006 peak in housing prices on an inflation-adjusted basis (meaning in real wealth terms).

From a nominal wealth perspective, we are 53% higher in today's dollars from the 2006 peak to the current day.

Translation - people who bought a house at the very peak in 2006 are 14% wealthier since that all-time high in inflation adjusted dollars, but their real estate balance sheet shows that they are 53% wealthier... making them very happy inside.

Translation of the Translation - You buy a house for $100,000 at the peak in 2006, you were really sad in 2012 because your house was only worth $74,000, but hey you got to live indoors so that's a plus... and rent continues going up. Today that same house is worth $153,000.

Translation of the Translation of the Translation - You can't sleep in your 401(k), or most other investments - but a house provides financial benefits that make it easier to ride out the market cycles and it can create tremendous wealth.