Homes in these 15 cities were hit hard by the financial crisis, and now their prices are booming
Since the lowest point of the housing bust, the average US home has risen 22% in value, and the average foreclosed home has risen 39%. In many markets, foreclosed homes are more valuable now than they've ever been.
But the original owners of those homes have been left behind in the recovery, and haven't been able to benefit from the increased value.
"During the run-up to the housing bubble, many low-income earners bought homes, and the homeownership rate rose from about 65 percent in the mid-1990s to almost 70 percent in 2006," the Zillow report states. "When home values crashed in 2007, millions of homeowners had to walk away - abandoning their initial investment and missing the opportunity to gain equity as home values recovered."
As such, the housing crisis further worsened the gap between the rich and poor. Losing their homes during the foreclosure crisis not only resulted in "forcing them to pay ever-increasing rents," but also in "locking them out of the benefits of the housing market recovery," according to Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell.
The following slides show the metropolitan areas where the change in value for foreclosed homes has been especially high. They also include the value change from the lowest point in the housing bust to the current value, for both foreclosed homes and all homes in the area.