Redfin analyzed the characteristics of homes that best maintained their values during the last recession.
The most successful homes had five things in common. First, single-family homes maintained value better than both townhomes and condos overall. Next, they tended to be located in less dense neighborhoods, and to include two stories and more than five bedrooms. Finally, pre-war (built before 1940) homes kept their value better than newer homes.
To identify features common among homes that best retain their value in a recession, we analyzed the characteristics of over 100,000 homes across over 80 metro areas that sold between July 2007 and September 2008, and sold again between January 2011 and March 2012. We chose these periods because the first coincides with the top of the housing market and the start of the “Great Recession” and the second is when home prices hit bottom and began to climb again.
