How to Know If the Housing Recovery Passed You By

Last decade’s housing bubble lifted a lot of Americans into home ownership, especially low-income families that took advantage of easy credit and a steady supply of new, simply built homes. We all know how that ended.

But it turns out the Great Recession, foreclosure, and even personal bankruptcy weren’t the final insults for millions of homeowners who suddenly found themselves without a home. A new study published this week by Zillow will add significant sting to those injuries.

Foreclosures in the years after the bust were concentrated in the cheapest tier of homes. These days, foreclosed homes in most big metropolitan areas have not only recovered their lost value, but done so at a faster clip than the market as a whole. Thus many of those people who lost their homes during the recession have missed out on almost a decade’s worth of price appreciation.