The Philadelphia metro had the 10th most valuable housing market in the nation in 2016, with total home values rising 3.4 percent from last year.
That’s according to Zillow’s end-of-the-year report, which found that the U.S. housing stock grew to a record-high $29.6 trillion in this past year. In Philly, the total value of all homes is $589.2 billion, a 3.2 percent change from last year, or $18.4 billion.
While home values have increased, that $589.2 billion number is still below what it was before the housing crisis, claims Zillow. Still, it was one of the best years for the area’s housing market since then, which we learned in the third quarter when Philly officially transitioned from a sellers’ to buyers’ market.
At the top of the charts is the LA metro region, whose housing stock is worth a mind-boggling $2.5 trillion. That’s more than double the combined wealth of America’s 50 richest citizens, according to the report.
While home values were at an all-time high this year, renters may have gotten the raw end of the deal. In Philly, the total rent paid was $8.5 billion, up 4 percent from 2015.
In general, apartment renters paid the most for their pads. This group paid nearly $50 billion more than renters of single-family homes. Why? The boom in multi-family construction this year.
If you’re a life-long renter and don’t like those rising numbers, you might want to consider more budget-friendly cities like Buffalo, Birmingham, Louisville, and Salt Lake City. Renters in those cities paid the least of their paychecks on rent this year.