• Nationally, appraised values were 2.17% lower than homeowner expectations.
• Home values increased 0.29% in March and rose 4.77% year-over-year, according to the national HVI.

DETROIT, April 12, 2016 – Quicken Loans, the nation’s second largest retail mortgage lender, today announced home values, as determined by appraisers, were an average of 2.17 percent lower than what homeowners expected in March according to the company’s proprietary national Home Price Perception Index (HPPI).

Additionally, home values continued to slowly climb in March. The Quicken Loans Home Value Index (HVI), the only measure of home values based solely on recent home appraisals, shows valuation nudged up 0.29 percent since February, and are up 4.77 percent year-over-year nationwide.

Home Price Perception Index (HPPI)

The HPPI again showed homeowners were a bit more optimistic about their home’s value relative to valuations provided by professional home appraisers. Appraisals in March showed valuation an average of 2.17 percent lower than what homeowners estimated at the beginning of their refinance. The spread between the two values widened in March, compared to February’s appraisals which were 1.99 lower than what homeowners expected. When viewed at a metro area level, the HPPI varies widely across the country. Areas within the West region continued to stand out with several locations averaging appraised values beyond what homeowners were expecting, while all Midwestern metro areas show appraisals lagging behind homeowner estimates.

“The varying HPPI values across the country illustrates the importance of examining the market at the local level,” said Quicken Loans Chief Economist Bob Walters. “If homeowners are eyeing that new home being built across town, they could be pleasantly surprised how much their home will sell for – or in some instances their equity may not take them as far as they think – depending on what area of the country they’re in.”

Home Value Index (HVI)

Home values grew in March, with appraised values increasing 0.29 percent and growing 4.77 percent since the previous year, according to the National HVI. This continues a trend of rising home values we have been in since early 2012. The monthly change is more volatile – ranging from a 0.67 percent dip in the Midwest to a 1.52 percent climb in the West – but all four regions studied saw annual increases in appraised values.

“It’s not always easy for homeowners to keep their finger on the pulse of their equity,” said Walters. “This data shows homes have continued to increase in value since the depths experienced after the last recession. Those increases mean far fewer Americans have negative equity in their homes. This increases their mobility and is a positive development for all segments of the housing market.”

 

###

About the HPPI & HVI

The Quicken Loans HPPI represents the difference between appraisers’ and homeowners’ opinions of home values. The index compares the estimate that the homeowner supplies on a refinance mortgage application to the appraisal that is performed later in the mortgage process. This is an unprecedented report that gives a never-before-seen analysis of how homeowners are viewing the housing market. The HPPI national composite is determined by analyzing appraisal and homeowner estimates throughout the entire country, including data points from both inside and outside the metro areas specifically called out in the above report.

The Quicken Loans HVI is the only view of home value trends based solely on appraisal data from home purchases and mortgage refinances. This produces a wide data set and is focused on appraisals, one of the most important pieces of information to the mortgage process.

The HPPI and HVI are released on the second Tuesday of every month. Both of the reports are created with Quicken Loans’ propriety mortgage data from the 50-state lenders’ mortgage activity across all 3,000+ counties. The indexes are examined nationally, in four geographic regions and the HPPI is reported for 27 major metropolitan areas. All indexes, along with downloadable tables and graphs can be found at QuickenLoans.com/Indexes.

About Quicken Loans

Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation’s second largest retail home mortgage lender. The company closed more than $220 billion of mortgage volume across all 50 states since 2013. Quicken Loans generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Scottsdale, Arizona. The company also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. Quicken Loans ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Primary Mortgage Origination” in the United States by J.D. Power for the past six consecutive years, 2010 – 2015, and highest in customer satisfaction among all mortgage servicers in 2014 and 2015.

Quicken Loans was ranked No. 5 on FORTUNE magazine’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in 2016, and has been among the top-30 companies for the last 13 years. It has been recognized as one of Computerworld magazine’s ’100 Best Places to Work in IT’ the past 11 years, ranking No. 1 in 2015, 2014, 2013, 2007, 2006 and 2005. The company moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010, and now more than 10,000 of its 15,000 team members work in the city’s urban core. For more information about Quicken Loans, please visit QuickenLoans.com, on Twitter at @QLnews, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/QuickenLoans.

Additional graphics are available below.