Homeowners racked up some serious wealth over the past decade.

Middle-class homeowners who bought real estate during the depths of the Great Recession built over $122,000 in wealth thanks to home price appreciation, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®. The values of their homes have soared 68% since 2012.

As prices skyrocketed over the past decade, lower-income and wealthier homeowners also benefited from the hot housing market. Low-income homeowners saw about $99,000 in home appreciation over the same period. Wealthier homeowners saw nearly $151,000 in gains.

“Everybody can build wealth through homeownership. There are significant long-term and financial benefits,” says Nadia Evangelou, a senior economist at NAR. “A mortgage payment is also often considered a forced savings account. [And] the value of a home increases over time, so homeowners can build wealth from the price appreciation.”

Homeowners typically have net worths that are 40 times that of renters, and homebuyers often have higher incomes and credit scores than many tenants.

Those living in the most expensive metros experienced the largest run-ups in appreciation. In San Jose, CA, the heart of Silicon Valley, middle-class homeowners built roughly $643,000 in wealth over the past decade.

That boost in net worth helped homeowners across the country weather costly emergencies, fund big-ticket items like college educations, pay down debt, and buy new trade-up or secondary homes.

“Homeownership helps create long-term wealth and financial stability for your family and future generations,” NAR President Kenny Parcell said in a statement.

Black homeowners saw the lowest appreciation

However, home appreciation for Black homeowners was the lowest among any racial group. Their properties went up about $115,000 in value since 2012—compared with $239,000 for Asian homeowners, $162,000 for Hispanic homeowners, and $138,000 for white homeowners.

Black Americans also had the lowest homeownership rates in the nation, at just 44.9% at the end of 2022, compared with 74.9% for white Americans. Much of this discrepancy is due to discriminatory housing policies such as redlining, which prohibited people of color from buying homes in predominantly white communities. The federal government and lenders also made it more difficult—if not impossible—for them to receive the low-cost mortgages that were offered to white Americans.

“It’s more challenging for Black Americans to purchase a home because fewer of them can afford to [do so],” says Evangelou.

Homes owned by Black Americans have a median value of $240,000, according to the NAR analysis. The median value is about $308,000 for Hispanic-owned homes and $310,000 for white-owned homes. Homes owned by Asians have the highest median value, at about $575,000.

“Even though Black homeowners didn’t gain as much equity as other racial and ethnic groups, the amount they gained was still significant,” says Evangelou.

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