LIL' BUDDY'S BLOG - Many Homeowners Still in Denial As To Their Home's Market Value!
THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG!
Grrrrrr!!!!! Gracie Moss writing tonight. I've got my Human Dad, Team Leader Dean, by a shoestring!
Well, actually, our own Lil' Buddy is taking the night off. The truth be told . . . his weekly Poker Game got moved up, because of Halloween tomorrow. (You know that famous on-black-velvet picture of Dogs Playing Poker - it was Buddy who snapped it!)
The Little White Dog left his notes for me, right on the floor by his laptop, and asked if I could do him a favor and write his post tonight!
I'll do it . . . but the dog owes me one - BIG TIME! I'm missing Keith Olbermann and Countdown on MSNBC! (He IS handsome, isn't he? But LIBERAL!!!)
You might not believe this, you dogs, but many human home sellers still feel the recent downturn in the Real Estate Market, here in Chicago and across the country, is FICTION. Perhaps, more accurately, they don't feel the downturn applies to THEM when they sell!
According to a just-completed survey by Zillow.com, the Online Value Estimating Website, despite hard evidence showing that roughly 74% of U.S. Homes lost value within the past twelve months, 32% of Zillow survey respondents said they felt THEIR home actually INCREASED in value! Another 17% thought their home's value had held steady, while only 51% - slightly over half - thought, correctly, according to empirical data, that the value of their home had actually decreased in value.
This Third Quarter, 2008 survey showed sellers surveyed were a bit more in line with reality than the Zillow survey of last quarter. In that previous survey, covering the period April through June, 2008, 62% of surveyed homeowners thought their home had increased in value or stayed at the same level of value.
The latest survey was actually conducted by online questionnaire between October 7th and 9th - the worst point-loss week in stock market history, and a week in which there was no shortage of general pessimism about the U.S. Economy today.
By region, those in the South seemed to be the most unrealistic - 34% of respondents in this region thought their own values had increased during the last quarter. Those from the West were more in tune with reality. This region was hard hit by defaulting homeowners and skyrocketing foreclosure rates. Here, only 22% of those questioned felt their house had increased in value over the past year.
Looking to the future, a sizable contingent of surveyed home sellers had an optimistic assessment of the coming six months for the housing market - at least as it would apply to their home. Nationally, 21% thought the value of their own home would increase over the coming half-year, while 40% of those surveyed thought their home's value would stay pretty much the same. The remaining respondents thought their value might decrease in the short term.
Interestingly, when these same respondents were queried about the state of their LOCAL housing market - not just THEIR OWN home - only 18% thought the average house in their local area would increase, 24% said the value would stay the same, and 57% thought other folks houses in town would decrease within the next six months. (Their feeling, perhaps - other families around here might be negatively impacted by the housing market, BUT NOT US!)
These numbers don't add up to exactly 100%, due to rounding.
Make sense to you dogs? Didn't think so!
Also from the survey -
- Supporters of Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain were a tad more optimistic than those supporting Democratic Candidate Barack Obama. Of Obama Supporters, 56% felt their home had decreased in value during the calendar quarter ending September 30th, compared to only 50% of those supporting McCain.
- Compared to the Second Quarter, 2008, fewer people planned to either sell or buy their home within the coming six months. According to the Zillow Online Survey, only 3% of respondents planned to sell their home within the next six months - down from 5% who felt they would sell during the last quarter. Also, only 3% planned to buy a new home within the next 180 days, down from 4% during the Second Quarter.
Here's a link to Amy Bohutinsky's post on the Zillow Blog yesterday. Amy is the Vice President of Communications for Zillow.com
You know, the more I hang around our own Lil' Buddy, the more I realize that humans just don't make sense sometimes.
BTW . . . Buddy will be back next week, assuming he doesn't lose his fur in this week's card game with his little pals!
He wanted me to remind you, as I do, to ENJOY HALLOWEEN . . . SAFELY! Please, keep those unwrapped Meaty Bones away from your kids!
Sitting in For . . .
YOUR ACE REPORTER ON FOUR PAWS,
BUDDY HOLLY MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO,
I'm GRACIE MOSS for DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
