Hudson Institute Webinar on RIHA Paper this Friday

The Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C., will hold a webinar this Friday, Jan. 8, to discuss a recent Research Institute for Housing America paper on distribution of household wealth since the Great Recession.

Last month, RIHA, a subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association, released The Distribution of Wealth Since the Great Recession, which reported distribution of wealth among U.S. households became increasingly unequal from 2007 through 2016 as a decline in homeownership and home values impacted the wealth of middle-class families.

John C. Weicher, author of the report and Director for the Center for Housing and Financial Markets with the Hudson Institute, said the primary sources of wealth for most middle-class households are the assets in their retirement accounts and the equity in their homes. Bottoming out of home prices through 2012 and the 4.5% drop in the homeownership rate through 2015 both contributed to the decline in the median real household net worth, from $140,000 in 2007 to $97,000 in 2016 – 30% lower than before the financial crisis.

“The typical household by 2016 was wealthier than it was in 2013, but significantly poorer in comparison to its situation in 2007,” Weicher said. “Middle-class households did not fully recover from the financial crisis, and the poor saw their net worth turn negative and stay negative.”

Meanwhile, the report noted, the rich recovered faster and their share of wealth increased from 71 percent in 2007 to 77 percent in 2016. The result, the study said: a less-equal America, with many families that fell behind having reasons to worry as they cope with the pandemic and move closer to retirement.

Weicher will further discuss the report’s findings during the webinar, which will run from noon-1:00 p.m. ET. Edward Seiler, Executive Director of RIHA and MBA Associate Vice President of Housing Economics, will serve as moderator. There is no cost to participants.

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