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Americans Have $35 Trillion in Housing Wealth—and It’s Costing Themwww.wsj.com/economy/housing/american-home-equity-wealth-costs-982e79a4
448 sats \ 4 comments \ @Coinsreporter 8 Apr econ
Americans have hit an odd contradiction: They have amassed $35 trillion of wealth in their homes, yet many feel less well off because of it.
Home equity has climbed nearly 80% since early 2020—up from $19.5 trillion—thanks to a turbocharged rise in house prices. That was about twice the rise in financial wealth including stocks and bonds as of the end of 2024, according to the Federal Reserve.
Paper wealth Home equity is calculated by taking the estimated value of a home and subtracting the mortgage debt attached to it. The value isn’t locked in until a sale. But rough estimates are widely available thanks to modeling tools like Zillow’s Zestimate. Checking it has become an everyday obsession of many homeowners.
The average homeowner with a mortgage had $313,000 of equity entering 2025, according to ICE Mortgage Technology.
This is really bad to know that Americans first have to pay to buy the property then give annual taxes on it. Why are house owners even taxed? Did government play any monetary support in buying you a house there.
It's shocking to me as there's no house/property tax in India. Yeah, the local bodies do collect taxes but it's way too less. In my locality it's around $5 annually for water and cleanliness by municipality. Not the central nor the state governments collect any tax on property other than a stamp duty while registering it under law at the time of purchase. This stamp duty is also below 10% in most states/cities/towns.
I've to say that Americans have meekly surrendered to the taxation imposed upon them.
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20 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 8 Apr
Property owners are taxed because their property is a sitting duck. It's the easiest target for the state to go after.
We also don't have national property taxes, and not every state has one, but it's very common for localities to tax.
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33 sats \ 2 replies \ @Coinsreporter OP 8 Apr
We also don't have national property taxes, and not every state has one, but it's very common for localities to tax.
I remember we've discussed about it before as well. From this article I've come to know that property taxes are so high there; which is kinda shocking to me because I've never paid a single buck in such taxes here. I own some farming land which doesn't have any taxes whatsoever, then I've a house that doesn't fall under the municipality. So, my question is - do Americans also have such concessions or somehow is it possible to evade property taxes there?
Another one is - What's the general public attitude towards property taxes there?
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20 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 8 Apr
There are a very limited number of such places in the US. The only ones I'm aware of are a few unincorporated areas in Alaska. I believe Alaska is the only state where some of the land is not part of a county or municipality and the state has no property tax.
People generally just accept property taxes as part of life. However, we do know from the migration literature that people move away from places with higher property taxes, in favor of places with lower (that goes for all taxes, btw).
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42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter OP 8 Apr
People generally just accept property taxes as part of life.
That's not the general sentiment here. It is partly because property was given a fundamental right by the constitution and it is clearly stated that if any property tax is levied India, it must be on the rental value/income of the property. This makes it similar to income tax. This means If my non agricultural property generates me an income of less than $15000 (approax.), it's exempted.
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