---
title: "Appreciation — What It Means | Ondo RE"
canonical: https://www.ondorealestate.com/glossary/appreciation/
---

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Investing[All terms starting with A](/glossary/#letter-A)

# Appreciation

An increase in a property’s value over time, from market movement or from improvements made to it.

Market appreciation comes from conditions outside your control. Forced appreciation comes from work you do: renovation, better management, raising below-market rents.

Appreciation is unrealized until you sell or borrow against it, and it is not guaranteed. Treating projected appreciation as the reason a deal works turns an investment into a bet on the market.

## Put a number on it

This term feeds the calculators below.

- [Rent vs Own CalculatorCompare long-term costs and equity between renting and owning.](/calculators/rent-vs-own/)
- [Retirement Savings CalculatorProject retirement savings growth and future income needs.](/calculators/retirement/)
- [CAGR CalculatorCompute the compound annual growth rate between two values over time.](/calculators/cagr/)

## Related terms

- [EquityThe difference between what a property is worth and what is owed against it.](/glossary/equity/)
- [CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)The smoothed annual rate at which a value would have grown to reach its ending amount over a period.](/glossary/cagr/)
- [ROI (Return on Investment)Total return relative to what was invested, usually including cash flow, principal paydown, and appreciation.](/glossary/roi/)
- [Cash flowWhat remains each month after rent has covered operating expenses and debt service.](/glossary/cash-flow/)

## More in Investing

- [1% rule](/glossary/one-percent-rule/)
- [1031 exchange](/glossary/1031-exchange/)
- [50% rule](/glossary/fifty-percent-rule/)
- [CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)](/glossary/cagr/)
- [Cap rate (Capitalization rate)](/glossary/cap-rate/)
- [CapEx (Capital expenditures)](/glossary/capex/)

## Have a question about your own situation?

Ondo handles brokerage, lending, property management and notary under one roof, so the answer does not change depending on who you ask.

[Talk to Ondo](/contact/)[Browse all terms](/glossary/)