Adjusted For Inflation, Home Prices Are Still 16 Percent Below 2006 High

The big news this week is that home prices have surpassed the peak established before the bust in 2006. The market has officially recovered.

Not quite. While the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index found that the average home price in the U.S. in September was 0.1 percent higher than the record high in 2006, the figure for 2016 wasn’t adjusted for inflation. The Denver Post reports that when taking inflation into account, prices nationally are still 16 percent below that high.

That means many homeowners are just now able to say their home is worth what they paid for it 10 years ago. [While Denver reached the pre-recession peak in 2013], other parts of Colorado, where job growth has been slower and home values are just now reaching their 2006 levels.

A major concern in the near future is that incomes aren’t keeping up with home prices. Since 2012, house prices have risen 5.9 percent, but incomes have only increased 1.3 percent.

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