Homeowners in the West are the least realistic in the U.S. about their own home’s values, with 28% believing they went up in the past year, Zillow’s quarterly Homeowner Confidence Survey shows. In reality, just 17% of homes in the region increased in value.
| Perceptions vs. reality | U.S. | No. E. | Mid W. | South | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home value decreased | 49% | 51% | 52% | 45% | 53% |
| Home value same | 26% | 29% | 25% | 28% | 19% |
| Home value increased | 25% | 20% | 23% | 27% | 28% |
| %homes decreased | 72% | 61% | 72% | 73% | 78% |
| %homes same | 6% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 5% |
| %homes increased | 22% | 31% | 22% | 22% | 17% |
| Q3 ‘09 “Misperception” | 10 | -6 | 8 | 15 | 17 |
| Q2 ‘09 “Misperception” | 13 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 7 |
| Q3 ‘08 “Misperception” | 16 | 20 | 15 | 13 | 13 |
| Value will decrease | 17% | 17% | 18% | 16% | 15% |
| Value will stay same | 43% | 44% | 38% | 44% | 44% |
| Value will increase | 41% | 40% | 43% | 39% | 41% |
Other highlights of the full report (FULL COPY HERE) …
- Nationally, fewer than half — 49% – believe their home’s value decreased over the past 12 months. Actually, 72% went down.
- U.S. homeowners were more optimistic about the future of their own homes’ values than at any time in the past 6 quarters.
- A full 41% say their own home’s value will increase in the next 6 months. An additional 43% say their home’s value will remain the same, with just 17% saying their home’s value will decrease.
“Consistent with all previous surveys, homeowners also seem to be overly optimistic about future home values,” said said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. “While we have definitely seen some stabilization in recent months, there is a high likelihood that home values will see further declines driven by an increasing number of foreclosures coming into the market and, possibly, rising interest rates after the first quarter of next year.”
Let’s take our own poll.
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