Americans Still Delusional About The Value Of Their Homes

[AllentownJake]

We've seen this over and over again.

While Americans seem to recognize that there's been this thing called the housing crash, they don't believe it's happened to them, or at least a lot don't.

Zillow: However, the third quarter of 2009 is a different story in both market behavior and homeowner perception. As individual markets behaved very differently (some improving, some flat, many still continuing to decline), homeowner perception was literally all over the map. And for the first time, one sector of homeowners — those in the Northeast — was overly cynical about home values. Meanwhile in the hardest-hit region of the country, the Western states, homeowners continued to be overly optimistic when evaluating the value of their own homes.

Nationwide, when asked about their own home’s value over the past year:

• 25% think their home’s value has increased
• 26% think their home’s value has stayed the same
• 49% think their home’s value has decreased

In reality, 72 percent of U.S. homes lost value over the past year, and 22 percent of homes increased in value. That’s fewer homes declining versus Q2(83%), and a smaller Misperception Index of 10 (vs. 13 in Q2 and 17 in Q3 2008. A Misperception Index of zero would mean homeowners’ perceptions were in line with actual values.

http://www.zillow.com/blog/homeowner-confidence-out-of-whack-but-can-you-blame-them/2009/11/17/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZillowBlog+%28Zillow+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

[FBaggins]

1. Not really anything "new"... just more signifanct in the current environment

Even during the boom times homeowners often thought their home was worth more than it really was.

Interesting to see it quantified however. Thanks!

[FBaggins]

2. Another interesting question to poll

Ask homeowners how long they think it would take their home to sell at the price they think it's worth.

I'm guessing that they would say that things have gotten worse and instead of taking a month to sell... it would now take three.

Reality, of course, is quite higher in most cases (especially at the price they think the home is worth).

[Mari333]

3. I live in reality.

I know perfectly well that my house has descreased in value from what I paid for it. ergo, I will sit here for a long time. I paid cash for it, so that helps (from the sale of my huge old farmhouse and land before the bust). Its small, was reasonably priced at the time, and is just right for one person. A small bungalow. Downsizing is good for the soul.

I doubt it will increase for a long time, so I guess its where I am supposed to be.

Whats sad is that my son and his wife, who have a mortgage, cannot sell their house, because its now worth less than what they owe on it.


Goddamned Michigan. in the toilet.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

4. I'm positive that the value of ours has gone down the last two years.

At least we still have a place to live, so we're in a lot better shape than a lot of Americans who have lost their homes through no fault of their own.

One of the worst things about losing your job is not being able to maintain your house.

I make sure that the lawn and gardens look fairly decent in the hope that people won't notice all of the repairs that need to be done on the house itself.

As I've said before, this country is full of people who are one illness or one job loss away from being out on the street.

We are absolutely not in the 1 or 2 percent of people controlling the majority of the wealth in this country. The worst part is that those people sleep better just because they aren't going over all of the bills that need to be paid in their head all night.