For some reason, people seem to accept that their housing market may decline, or that the neighbor’s home lose value, but they still seem to be holding on to "but my house is special!"
Home owners are quite aware of the slow housing market, but most of them don’t think the trend is affecting their property, according to recent survey of 1,361 home owners.
Harris Interactive conducted the Homeowner Confidence Survey on behalf of real estate Web site Zillow. Results show that nearly two out of three (62 percent) home owners think their home value has increased or remained the same in the past year.
However, 77 percent of U.S. homes lost value in the past 12 months, according to preliminary analysis of Zillow’s Q2 Real Estate Market Reports, due to be released August 12. Only 19 percent of homes increased in value, and 5 percent remained the same.
Another interesting finding from the survey: Home owner’s optimism about real estate prices doesn’t extend to neighboring homes, as 42 percent expect values in their local market to drop and 58 percent think values will increase or remain the same.
The survey underscores a wide gap between home owners’ inflated perception of their home values and the market reality.
