The gloomy news on the housing market keeps coming, but sellers are still holding unrealistic expectations of their property values, real estate valuation Web site Zillow.com found.
According to Zillow’s second-quarter homeowner confidence survey, 62 percent of homeowners believe their home’s value has either increased or held firm in the past year.
However, 77 percent of homes actually declined in value over the past year, according to preliminary figures from Zillow’s August market report. Only about 19 percent of homes increased in value and about 5 percent stayed the same, Zillow said.
Compared with other parts of the country, the Western region showed the lowest level of “home value misperception,” according to Zillow. A whopping 56 percent of Western homeowners surveyed by Zillow said they believe their home values have dropped.
Still, that fell far short of reality, according to Zillow’s numbers. Zillow found 88 percent of properties in the West had decreased in value over the past year.
“Whether it’s apathy, confusion or just plain denial, homeowners seem to believe the housing crisis affects every other home but ‘not my house,’ underscoring a wide gap between homeowners’ inflated perception of their home values and the gloomy market reality,” Zillow said in a press release.
Well, since I compared this year’s valuation from the county with last year’s, I saw that the assessed value went down slightly. Remarkable but not surprising given how overheated the market was.
Compared with what I bought my home for about six years ago, I am still seeing appreciation.
At one point Zillow estimated the value of my house as almost double what I paid for it. Then the bubble burst, and things have gone down — but still up since I bought.
For me, it was the low interest rates that got me in a new home in 2002. That coupled with a nice down payment has left me with a very affordable mortgage and a great deal of equity in my home.
While I recognize that values have gone down, for me, it’s still not anything to worry about.
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Well, since I compared this year’s valuation from the county with last year’s, I saw that the assessed value went down slightly. Remarkable but not surprising given how overheated the market was.
Compared with what I bought my home for about six years ago, I am still seeing appreciation.
At one point Zillow estimated the value of my house as almost double what I paid for it. Then the bubble burst, and things have gone down — but still up since I bought.
For me, it was the low interest rates that got me in a new home in 2002. That coupled with a nice down payment has left me with a very affordable mortgage and a great deal of equity in my home.
While I recognize that values have gone down, for me, it’s still not anything to worry about.
— Cheryl 08/06/2008 12:11 PM #