Our quarterly Homeowner Confidence Survey, conducted in partnership with Harris Interactive, was released today. How you feel about the results could depend on what side of the table you are on.
This is the third quarter in a row where homeowners as a majority have predicted that we’ve reached the bottom, believing that their personal home value will not decrease any further. Of the past three quarters, this quarter people were the most optimistic.
- 34% think their home’s value will increase
- 47% think their home’s value will stay the same
- 19% of homeowners think their home’s value will decrease.
Those numbers represent what people think of the future. How do they feel about the past quarter?
- 22% think their home’s value has increased
- 19% think their home’s value has stayed the same
- 60% think their home’s value has decreased
Unfortunately, this isn’t what our national numbers show. According to analysis of Zillow’s Q2 Real Estate Market Reports, 83% of U.S. homes declined in value over the past year – up from 80% in Q1.
When we look at what people think happened to their home values, verses what our numbers actually show, we are able to calculate a Home Value Misperception Index and compare it quarter to quarter. For Q2 of 2009 this index is 13 (zero would mean homeowners’ perceptions were perfectly in line with actual values), compared to 6 in Q1 and 11 in Q4 2008.
Going back to my opening line of how this affects you could depend on who you are representing. A growing Misconception Index could mean that is may be harder to convince Sellers of a realistic listing price. On the other hand, the renewed optimism may mean more Buyers come off the fence and are more realistic with their offer prices.
Either way, let’s hope this renewed optimism continues to grow to the point where attitude could be an effective ‘stimulus package’.
Perceptions can vary region to region:
Comments (12)Subscribe to CommentsComment