Notable Numbers From February 2018
February saw some surprising housing figures: How long it takes singles to save down payments. How quickly affordable homes are gaining value. How much the typical home in San Jose, Calif., is worth. Take a peek.

February saw some surprising housing figures: How long it takes singles to save down payments. How quickly affordable homes are gaining value. How much the typical home in San Jose, Calif., is worth. Take a peek.
Monthly payment on a median-valued home with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at current rates. That’s the most popular mortgage type in the country, by far. If Congress changes the loan guarantees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offer, the resulting dominant mortgage product could be wildly or only mildly different from what we have today. Here’s a look at possible scenarios.
Median home value in San Jose, Calif., where values rose 22.9 percent in January from the prior year. That’s about three times faster than the area’s historic pace. Nationally, home values climbed 6.7 percent in January, the slowest annual pace in 15 months.
How long it takes the typical single person to save a down payment for the typical U.S. home. That’s more than twice the time it takes a couple. After the down payment is saved, singles can’t afford a home valued at the national median. And it’s worse for women.
Even by the most optimistic projections, it will take until then for home values to reach the level where they would have been had the housing bust never happened, according to the most recent Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey of more than 100 economists and experts nationwide.
How much the country’s most affordable homes have gained in equity over the past five years. The most valuable homes, by contrast, have gained 27 percent. It’s yet another sign of how low inventory is hurting entry-level home buyers.
The median value of suburban homes on a per-square-foot basis. While values nationwide keep hitting new highs, and urban and rural homes have topped their housing bubble highs, suburban homes continue to lag their $140 per-square-foot peak from October 2006.