Map Reveals Where Homeowners Made the Biggest Gains in 10 Years

For those fortunate enough to have stepped onto the property ladder before housing costs skyrocketed in the U.S., homeownership has been a major wealth builder over the past ten years, a new study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found.

Nationally, homeowners gained equity equal to about three years of income over the past decade, the group estimated-a wealth that allows them to stay afloat in the current sluggish market conditions, even in states where home values are falling, and build up their net worth.

But across the country, there are stark regional differences, with metropolitan areas in coastal states-whether on the West or East Coast-reporting the biggest equity gains. One state emerges as the biggest winner in the country for equity gains: California boasts a total of four metropolitan areas in the nation's top ten markets where homeowners reported the biggest increases over the past decade, measured in years of income.

Where Homeowners Saw the Biggest Equity Gains?

Homeowners in San Jose, California, saw the biggest equity gains in the country at $1,163,300, the equivalent of 7.3 years of household income. The metro was followed by another market in the Golden State, Los Angeles, where homeowners saw equity gains equivalent to 5.9 years of household income, or $551,700.

Barnstable on Cape Cod in Massachusetts reported the third-biggest home equity gains in the country at $511,810, the equivalent of 5.7 years of household income.

Honolulu, Hawaii, followed with equity gains of $565,240, or 5.5 years of household income. Next came San Diego, California ($553,820, or 5.2 years of household income); Miami, Florida ($405,570, or 5.2 years); San Francisco, California ($676,780, or 5.1 years); New York ($453,010, or 4.7 years); Naples, Florida ($425,120, or 4.6 years); and Reno, Nevada ($382,950, or 4.3 years).

Who’s Getting Richer In Home Equity-And Who’s Being Left Out?

While geography is one factor to consider when looking at home equity gains, the differences are even starker when we look at the generational profiles of homeowners seeing these increases.

It goes without saying that to gain home equity you have to own one. This simple truth immediately excludes hundreds of thousands of young people in America who have struggled to buy property over the past few years because of rising home prices, historically elevated mortgage rates, and other soaring costs.

Baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964 and now aged between 62 and 80, had the highest share of homeowners in the country in 2025 by far, at 79.9 percent, according to Redfin data.

It was followed by Gen X, born between 1965 and 1980, at 72.7 percent, while the younger generations trailed them with 55.4 percent among millennials and 27.1 percent among Gen Zers. Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, while Gen Zers were born between 1997 and 2012.

It is to be expected that older generations would own more homes, as they have had more time to accumulate wealth.

But baby boomers and Gen Xers also had an easier time buying properties, as costs were lower in the past decades-and the equity they have built up since then is helping older generations remain the driving force in the U.S. housing market.

Americans aged 61 to 79 continue to dominate the housing market this year, according to NAR's recently released 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, making up the largest group of home buyers and sellers in the U.S.

In 2025, baby boomers overtook millennials as the biggest force of homebuyers and sellers, and in 2026 they maintain the largest share of homebuyers in the country, at 42 percent against millennials' 26 percent and Gen Zers' 4 percent.

What Are Young Americans Missing Out On?

First-time buyers make up just 21 percent of all homebuyers in the market, according to NAR-which indicates that not only they have been cut off from the equity gains reported by owners over the past decade, but that many are struggling to get into a position where they can start building that type of wealth.

"The housing market remains sharply divided between homeowners with equity and first-time buyers trying to break in-many of whom are younger millennials," NAR Deputy Chief Economist Dr. Jessica Lautz said in a statement.

"For many younger households, affordability challenges and limited inventory are still making homeownership difficult to achieve."

There is little comfort to be found in the fact that the crazy home price appreciation reported across the country has slowed down since the pandemic, and so have homeowners' equity gains.

"Housing remains one the biggest ways people build wealth in the U.S., and that will continue. With price growth now moderating, homeowners are still building wealth over time, just at a more normal and sustainable pace," Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research, NAR, told Newsweek.

For those unable to buy a home due to the ongoing affordability challenges, this is a significant blow. A recent study by Realtor.com found that those who buy a home at age 30 have 22.5 percent greater net worth at age 50 compared to those who buy in their mid-to-late 40s.

Americans, however, are getting to homeownership later in life than they used to. The median age of first-time homebuyers has climbed from 30 in 1990 to 40 in 2025, according to Realtor.com.

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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 10:04 AM.