How long should I hold on to my home?

Recent nation-wide Real Estate market events cause many to wonder how long do I need to hold onto my home to enjoy a reasonable profit.

NAR statistics show that despite the annual decline in the fourth quarter 2007 median home price, the typical seller who purchased their home six years ago still saw a very healthy gain. The median increase in value for sellers who purchased that home in the fourth quarter of 2001 is 31.2 percent, and the median home equity accumulation is $49,000.

In the fourth quarter, the largest single-family home price increase was the Cumberland area of Maryland and West Virginia, where the median price of $116,600 rose 19 percent from a year ago. Next was Yakima, Wash., at $170,600, up 18.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, followed by the Binghamton, N.Y., area, where the fourth quarter median price increased 14.8 percent to $110,000.

“The healthiest housing markets today generally are moderately priced and are experiencing job growth and often population growth, which in turn is supporting strong price growth,” Yun says. “Most of the weakest markets have either experienced both job and population losses, or they are experiencing corrections following a prolonged period of rapid price growth.”