Zillow is not my always my favorite website– at least when I have my agent hat on.  They have groovy maps that pinpoint homes for sale, homes that sold and foreclosures in different neighborhoods, but often their ”zestimates” miss the mark with under- or overevaluations.

They are good at getting the ‘pulse of the market’ when it comes consumer surveys. And an article today in the Chronicle about a Zillow survey tells us that most homeowners think they’re the exception to the rule and that their property hasn’t lost value.

 According to Zillow, 62% of the nation’s homeowners believe their property has climbed or at least held its value over the past year. This counterintuitive viewpoint hits a wall of market reality– that 77% of properties have dropped and only 24 percent have risen or held firm.

Western state residents are more realistic, but still way off the mark when considering the value of their personal piece of the American pie.   56% admit the market value of their home fell, while 44% believe it maintained or gained worth. 

This fits my own personal experience with the prospective Sellers I interview these days. About half are sanguine and realistic when I give them an estimated and value and half gasp in shock when they learn their home may be worth 10% less than what they could have gotten two years ago.

Even so, the gap between reality and perception is still staggering  as 88% of homes in the Western states have lost value, according to Dataquick.

You can visit SFGate to learn the median home price in your Zip code.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Market Conditions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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