All the houses in the United States are worth more than the combined GDPs of the U.S. and China combined.
According to Zillow, the total value of all U.S. homes rose 5.7 percent in 2016, reaching a record high of $29.6 trillion. Homes in the top 10 markets are valued at $11.2 trillion.
Rents are up, too. Americans paid $479 billion in rent in 2016, which is $97 billion more than in 2011. New Yorkers paid $54.6 billion in rent, the most among the major metros. Residents of Los Angeles paid $38.6 billion in rent, and people in markets such as San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, and Miami all spent more than $10 billion.
While these numbers are orders of magnitude smaller than the total value of the American housing stock, it is important to remember that rent paid is a flow, measured over a set period of time (in this case, one year). The total value is a stock figure, measured at a specific point, and one that has in the case of many homes accumulated over several years. Additionally, a smaller portion of the American housing stock is rented, with the majority of homes being owner-occupied.
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