Although more than half of those surveyed in Zillow.com's fourth-quarter Charlotte Home Owner Confidence Survey believe their own Charlotte home lost value in 2008, more than two thirds appear to believe that the worst may be over. According to the fourth-quarter-2008 survey, some 70% of those surveyed believe their Charlotte Home value will either increase or stay the same in the first six months of 2009, while only 30% expect a decrease in value. 57% believe their Charlotte Home lost value last year, up from 38% of those surveyed in the second quarter of 2008. In reality, 76% of all US homes lost value in 2008, according to analysis of the Zillow fourth-quarter Real Estate Market Reports.
With these new findings, Zillow’s home Value Misperception Index shrunk to 10 in the 4th quarter, from 16 in the third and 32 second quarter. An index of zero would mean more perceptions were in line with actual costs. It is clear that the not my house sentiment that was so prevalent in earlier surveys is waning, and homeowners are opening their eyes to the unfortunate reality of significant losses in home values across most of the country, said Dr. Stan Humfries, Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics, in a statement. That said, there's a curious optimism for homeowners when asked about the future -- most seem to believe we've hit bottom and the worst is past. Unfortunately the data tells another story. With year-over-year home value losses continuing to accelerate, most areas of the country will see housing values get worse before they begin to stabilize. With a Misperception Index of only three -- down from 20 in the third quarter -- the perception of homeowners in the Northeast was closest to reality. Well over half of Northeastern homeowners believe their own home’s value declined during 2008 while 20% believed it stayed the same. According to Zillow's fourth-quarter data, 71% of homes in the Northeast declined in value in 2008.
Homeowners in the West, where values were hardest hit, lost some other optimism in the fourth quarter but home values continue to edge downward, leaving Western homeowners’ perceptions among the farthest from reality with a Misperception Index of 13 (*the same as last quarter). Southerners perception were farthest from reality with a Misperception Index of 14.