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What's your house worth?

August 10, 2008

For months on this blog readers have debated high listing prices, and whether sellers are realistic or buyers are just being cheap.

So some of you may be interested in the findings of Zillow.com's second-quarter Homeowner Confidence Survey of 1,361 US homeowners. The survey was conducted for the real estate website by Harris Interactive and the results were released Wednesday.

Key findings:

  • 62 percent of US homeowners think their home's value has increased or remained the same in the past year. (By Zillow's calculations, 77 percent of US homes have lost value.)

  • 75 percent expect their home value will increase or stay the same over the next six months.

  • 42 percent expect the value of homes in their local market to decline.

  • In the Northeast, 39 percent of homeowners believe their home's value has increased in the past year, with 38 percent saying their home lost value. But Zillow's data show 20 percent of homes in the region gained value and 74 percent lost value.

    But more interesting was the finding that 48 percent of respondents said homeowners facing foreclosure because they took out adjustable-rate mortgages shouldn't receive government assistance, while 28 percent supported government help, and 24 percent weren't sure how they felt. Seems there are a lot of folks out there who believe everyone who had an ARM really understood what they were getting into.

    STACEY MYERS

    Selling off the summer leftovers
    Although every year is a little different from the one before, there are patterns that I see again and again. The summer leftover sales began in the past week or so. Prices are dropping, demand is down, and listing brokers look tired. I am spending more time giving "feedback" and hearing the listing agent trying to sell me on getting my buyers to return. Humm.

    Why does demand fall suddenly in mid-to-late July? It's pretty simple. Those who are buying in order to get their children established in school for September must have their purchase closed in August. In Massachusetts, it takes a minimum of three weeks to get from offer to purchase to closing. Most people take four to six weeks. Thus, demand drops every summer around this time.

    This is good news for me, as a buyer's agent. But it is not as good news as it may seem for my buyers. The summer leftovers are just that -- the leftovers. They didn't sell in the spring because they were not attractive and/or they were overpriced. Some that are merely overpriced are still for sale, now closer to their market value. Others were unattractive and now have had the industrial cleaning they needed. Still others are now vacant, making them easier to show and maybe even staged to be more pleasant. Some are still unattractive at any price.

    The way I explain this season to my buyers is like this: Shopping for a house during the end of season is like shopping for clothes at the end of the season. If you want a neutral-colored, conservative cut work suit, you are unlikely to find one in a popular size. If you are very small or very large, or you like trendy colors or cuts, you may find a suit at a big discount. Late summer home purchases are something like that.

    The advice: Consider going back to that dirty house you saw in April. It is $60,000 less now, and the tenant with the growling dog has moved out.

    Happy hunting!

    RONA FISCHMAN 

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