Money Talk: U.S. housing stock worth record-high $29.6 trillion in 2016

Editor’s note: Each Monday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Money Talk,” a wrap-up of banking and financial news.

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U.S. HOUSING STOCK WORTH RECORD-HIGH $29.6 TRILLION IN 2016
The U.S. housing market has regained all the value lost during the post-recession housing crisis, ending 2016 with a record-high $29.6 trillion of total value, according to an analysis by Zillow. In the past year, the housing market saw a strong year of appreciation, growing 5.7% in value, or by $1.6 trillion.

The cumulative value of all homes in the U.S. declined by $6.4 trillion between 2006 and 2012 as the housing market collapsed. While several markets are now more valuable than they were at the height of the housing bubble, about 60% of the markets in the U.S. are still below the maximum values reached during the bubble years. Los Angeles and New York metros hold the highest shares of the country’s overall housing value, at 8.6% and 8%, respectively. The next most valuable metro is San Francisco, worth 4.2% of the overall housing value.

TREASURY SECRETARY DEPARTURE MEMO SAYS U.S. ECONOMY MUST MOVE FROM RECOVERY TO FULL HEALTH
In a departure memo that recounts the progress and work of the U.S. Department of Treasury during the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the U.S. has seen a sustained economic recovery and a significant decline in the federal budget deficit in the eight years following the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Lew said that going forward over the next five to 10 years, the U.S. Treasury must focus on “four major goals,” including continuing to promote more inclusive growth; moving from recovery to long-term fiscal health; remaining a leader in the global economy; and adjusting to the new threats in our world. To view Lew’s departure memo, click here.

FDIC ENDS 2016 WITH LOWEST LEVEL OF POST-RECESSION BANK FAILURES
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) ended 2016 with only five banks landing on the nation’s notorious “failed bank” list, the lowest number of bank failures since the nation’s financial crisis in 2008. The highest number of bank failures after the financial collapse and subsequent recession occurred in 2010, when the FDIC took over receivership of 157 banks that failed across the U.S.

Ironically, Arkansas has the distinction of having the last U.S. bank seized, shut down and then auctioned off by federal regulators. On Sept. 23, the Arkansas State Bank Department took possession Mulberry-based Allied Bank and entered into an agreement with Huntsville’s Today’s Bank to acquire all of the troubled Northwest bank assets and deposits, which amounted to $66 million and $65 million, respectively. Read more here.