RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Fewer than half the nation’s homeowners expect the value of their homes to appreciate over the next five years, a 6 percent decline from last month and just three points above the lowest level measured in almost two years.

 Sixteen percent (16 percent) now expect the value of their home to go down in the next five years, the second-highest finding in two years. Thirty-three percent (33 percent) predict their home’s value will remain about the same. 

Homeowners are even more pessimistic about the short-term housing market.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 720 homeowners shows that just 19 percent of homeowners believe their home’s value will go up over the next year, down slightly from last month. Some 30 percent expect its value to go down in that time, tying the highest level of pessimism in two years of surveying. Roughly half (49 percent) think their home’s value will remain about the same over the next 12 months as it is now.

Men are much more confident than women when it comes to both short- and long-term home values. Higher-income homeowners express more confidence about five years down the road than those who earn less.

Investors share similar views with non-investors about home values in a year’s time, but they are much more optimistic than non-investors when it comes to home values five years from now.

In a separate survey, Rasmussen also found that that 55 percent of adults believe buying a home is the best investment a family can make, up slightly from last month but a huge drop from February 2009 when 73 percent felt that way. 

Twenty-six percent (26 percent) disagree and say home buying is not a family’s best possible investment, while 19 percent more are not sure.

Over the past year, 51 percent to 60 percent of adults have said buying a home is a family’s best investment.  Only 13 percent of adults say it’s a good time for someone in their area to sell a house, although that is the highest result found since last June. Most (68 percent) say it’s not a good time to sell a home. Nineteen percent (19 percent) are undecided.