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America’s Wealthiest 1% Could Buy 99% of America’s Homes

Written by Posted On Tuesday, 11 March 2025 06:05
America’s Wealthiest 1% Could Buy 99% of America’s Homes

Redfin reports the combined net worth of America’s wealthiest 1% has grown to a record $49.2 trillion, almost the same as the combined value of all the homes in the U.S.

The combined value of nearly 100 million U.S. homes reached $49.7 trillion at the end of 2024, while the combined net worth of America’s wealthiest 1% has grown to a record $49.2 trillion. In other words, the wealthiest 1% can afford to buy nearly every home in America. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Even though the two numbers are not directly related, the growth trajectories of home values and the net worth of the top 1% have tracked similar paths over the past 20 years.

Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao said that even though their assets are more diversified, the wealthiest 1% still own a disproportionate 13.4% share of real estate in the U.S. She said the rise in home values over the past decade has helped drive the similarly rapid growth of their net worth.

“This group is able to watch their real estate assets appreciate without facing mortgage interest payments, as they mainly buy homes with cash,” Zhao said. “It is a striking example of the concentration of wealth in America that the top 1% could hypothetically afford to buy every home in the country—without going into debt—while millions of households struggle to buy or hold onto just one. Asset growth, including real estate, has consistently outpaced wage growth in recent decades, increasing the gap between the top and bottom wealth brackets.”

Real estate makes up 12% of the top 1%’s wealth

Roughly 1.3 million U.S. households make up the wealthiest 1%, defined by the Fed as having a minimum net worth of $11.2 million.

Real estate represents 12.3% ($6.1 trillion) of that net worth, with most of the group’s wealth tied up in financial assets, which have increased at a similar (or even quicker) pace to real estate over the past two decades.

Wealth Percentile Tiers

(net worth)

No. of U.S. Households

Total Net Worth

Total Value of Real Estate

Real Estate as a % of Net Worth

Total Home Mortgage Debt

Top 1%

($11.2 million minimum)

1.3 million

$49.2 trillion

$6.5 trillion

12.3%

$411.5 billion

90-99th percentile

($2.2 million minimum)

12 million

$58.3 trillion

$14.7 trillion

19.8%

$3.2 trillion

50-90th percentile

($242,500 minimum)

53.2 million

$48.4 trillion

$22.2 trillion

32.2%

$6.6 trillion

0-50th percentile

($242,500 maximum)

66.6 million

$3.9 trillion

$4.9 trillion

46.4%

$3.1 trillion

In comparison, the bottom 50% of U.S. households have a total net worth of $3.9 trillion, with real estate assets making up $1.8 trillion (46.4%) of that amount—showing how reliant lower wealth tiers are on real estate as an asset.

The level of home mortgage debt also highlights the difficulty facing the lowest wealth tier. The bottom 50% owns real estate valued at $4.9 trillion, but has a total mortgage debt of $3.1 trillion. In comparison, the top 1% hold real estate valued at $6.5 trillion, but only have $411.5 billion in mortgage debt.

Wealthiest 0.1% could buy every home in America’s 25 most-populous metros

Even among the wealthiest 1%, there is a more exclusive bracket—the top 0.1%—comprising 134,000 U.S. households with a minimum net worth of $46.3 million.

The combined net worth of the top 0.1% is $22.1 trillion. That’s enough to purchase every home in the 25 most populous metros in America.

And that wealth is growing fast, rising by $4.4 trillion (24.9%) over the past two years. That’s more than the combined net worth of the bottom 50% or, put another way, enough to buy every home in the Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and Houston metro areas.

In comparison, the net worth of the bottom 50% grew nearly three times slower over the past two years, rising by 8.5% ($306.3 billion).

This is according to an analysis of the Redfin Estimate for more than 98 million U.S. residential properties, and Federal Reserve data for the total net worth held by the top 1% of Americans.

To view the full report, including charts, methodology, and additional metro-level data, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/wealthy-aggregate-value-2025

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Redfin

Redfin is a technology-driven real estate company with the country's most-visited real estate brokerage website. As part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), Redfin is creating an integrated homeownership platform from search to close to make the dream of homeownership more affordable and accessible for everyone. Redfin’s clients can see homes first with on-demand tours, easily apply for a home loan with Rocket Mortgage, and save thousands in fees while working with a top local agent. You can find more information about Redfin and get the latest housing market data and research at Redfin.com/news. For more information about Rocket Companies, visit RocketCompanies.com.

https://www.redfin.com

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