Homeowners Sour on 2012

Written by: editor   Mon, September 19, 2011 Beyond Today’s News, Consumer Confidence, Consumer Reports

Homeowners are growing even more pessimistic about the potential short- and long-term values of their homes.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 40 percent of U.S. homeowners now expect their home’s value to go down over the next year, the highest level of pessimism to date. Prior to the latest finding, this number ranged from a low of 19 percent to a high of 37 percent since April 2009.

Just 13 percent expect the value of their home to go up over the next year. While that shows no change from last month, it’s up just two points from the all-time low reached in July. Forty-five percent (45 percent) think their house will be worth about the same amount in one year’s time.

When it comes to the longer term, 36 percent believe their home’s value will go up during the next five years, down from 40 percent last month and just one point above the lowest level measured in over two years. This finding was over 50 percent for much of 2009 and 2010.

Twenty-four percent (24 percent) think housing values will decrease over the next five years, up slightly from the past two months. Thirty percent (30 percent) predict that their home’s value will be about the same in five years. Homeowners who make $20,000 or less annually are more likely than those who earn higher incomes to believe the value of their home will go down in one and five years.

The Rasmussen survey echoes a HomeGain National Home Values Survey released last week.  HomeGain found that 47 percent of surveyed real estate professionals nationwide expect home values to decrease over the next six months;

HomeGain also found that real estate professionals believe 75 percent of homeowners believe their homes are worth more than the recommended agent listing price. In contrast, 68 percent of home buyers believe homes are overpriced.

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