The latest report from Bloomberg has found that home values are not only growing healthily, but are breaking records, with home equity jumping last year by the most in 65 years.

“Property owners recaptured $1.6 trillion as home values climbed to the highest levels since 2007. The amount by which the value of the houses exceeds their underlying mortgages rose to $8.2 trillion last year, a gain of 25 percent, according to Federal Reserve data.

An expanding group of homeowners is able to get cash from their properties as banks show more willingness to make home equity loans with the market’s recovery. Originations for the mortgages should rise 10 percent to almost $83 billion this year, from about $75 billion in 2012, said Shaun Richardson, a vice president at Icon Advisory Group, a mortgage analytics firm in Greensboro, North Carolina. About 6 percent of lenders eased equity-mortgage standards at the end of 2012, the most in 18 months, according to the Fed.”

“Lenders are starting to come back into the marketplace,” said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate Inc. “We’re not going back to the wild, Wild West we saw during the real estate boom, but we are going to see more people spending their equity.”

This development bodes well for both buyers and sellers. Those owning a home will have more disposable income from their growing property values, and can make more money than before by selling their properties. Meanwhile, sellers looking to capitalize on increased equity in home ownership will find an active and willing market of suppliers.

Meanwhile, a report from CNN Money has bolstered this optimistic news with even more encouraging data:

The S&P Case-Shiller index, which tracks the 20 largest markets in the nation, showed the biggest year-over-year gain in prices since June 2006.

"This marks the highest increase since the housing bubble burst," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

In a separate government report Tuesday, new homes sold at a 411,000 annual rate in February, down nearly 5% from the January sales pace but up 12% from year-earlier levels. The typical price of a new home sold in the month was $246,800, up about 3% from both the January and a year earlier.

Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist for Deutsche Bank, said that bad weather in February could be partly responsible for the slowdown in sales. But he said market fundamentals suggest that the market for new-home sales should remain strong.

"Despite the pullback in sales in February, the uptrend in housing remains clearly intact," he said. He is forecasting even stronger sales in the second half of this year.

Needless to say, now is an ideal time to take advantage of an increasingly thriving and rewarding real estate market. Fort Lauderdale Real Estate is leading this trend, with a large and diverse market of luxurious properties. To learn more about the unprecedented opportunities that await, contact acclaimed and professional Realtor Gayle Borden at 954-525-3355