Home Ownership Doesn't Build Wealth

[Joe Splitrock]

A new study that was a collaboration of three universities concluded that in the nations 24 largest markets, only 4 showed median price increases between 2010 and 2016. (Three of four were in Northern California and the fourth was Miami). The study concluded that in most markets, renting and investing the money-saved would get a bigger return that buying a home.

This is an interesting study because it challenges the notion that "a home is your best investment". It also indicates there are very few markets where "appreciation only" strategies work. Here is a summary of the study from CNBC:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/16/homeownership-does...

I originally saw this study reported on Nightly Business Report, where they also made reference to multi-family housing starts being up 37% in October from September. They analyzed this as a continuing trend away from ownership towards renting. Here is a report talking about October building starts and permits:

http://usblogs.pwc.com/industrialinsights/2017/11/...