RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Nearly half the nation’s homeowners now fear that home values will decrease further this year, up from 30 percent in the second quarter.

Slightly in the third quarter fewer real estate professionals, on the other hand, expect prices to fall than in the second, according to HomeGain’s Third Quarter 2011 Home Values Survey.

Most real estate professionals and homeowners continue to expect home values to decrease or stay the same through the middle of the year. Forty-seven percent of agents and brokers and 45 percent of homeowners think that home values will decrease over the next six months.

In the second quarter 2011 HomeGain National Home Values Survey, fifty percent of agents and brokers and 30 percent of homeowners thought that home values would decrease over the next six months.

Forty-two percent of real estate agents and brokers and 43 percent of homeowners think that home values will remain the same in the coming six months.

Eleven percent of real estate professionals expect home values to increase in the next six months, down one percent from last quarter. Twelve percent of homeowners expect home values to increase in the next six months, down three percent from last quarter.

According to surveyed agents and brokers, 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.

“Homeowners have joined real estate professionals and now share their dour view on the direction of home prices. Last quarter only 30 percent of homeowners expected home prices to drop in the coming six months while 50 percent of real estate professionals expected price declines. In the current survey 45 percent of homeowners and 47 percent of real estate professionals expect home price declines in the next six months,” said Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain.

Over 500 real estate agents and brokers and over 2,200 homeowners were surveyed.